All the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025!

And she brought forth her firstborn son,

and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,

because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,

keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,

and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2

One of the greatest gifts in my life is the sense of purpose this alternative blog has given me – the opportunity to participate in a larger discussion – all made possible thanks to your readership and support. 

Whether or not we agree on the myriad social, civic, and economic issues of the day, I hope we remain friends, grounded in the common purpose of seeking a better tomorrow for our children and grandchildren through the vigorous competition of ideas and a universal desire for honorable, accessible, and principled governance.

Here’s a special thanks to the loyal members of the Barker’s View tribe.

Your civic awareness and activism continue to make a difference in our community – and your friendship has enhanced my life in immeasurable ways. 

A true blessing.

Here’s wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and all best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2025!

MDB

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

U.S. Representative Cory Mills

This week, we learned that the bipartisan House Ethics Committee will review an apparent complaint involving our own District 7 Congressman Cory Mills.

Although few details were released concerning the accusations against the New Smyrna Beach lawmaker, in a short statement issued by the OEC on Monday, we learned the “…Committee on Ethics has extended the matter regarding Representative Cory Mills, which was transmitted to the Committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics on August 29, 2024.”

As you may recall, in the lead-up to the Republican primary in August, a report by Mark Harper in The Daytona Beach News-Journal explained, “Mills, a first-term congressman representing Florida’s 7th District, is facing an Aug. 20 Republican primary challenge from Michael Johnson, a retired Department of Defense employee and Vietnam-era Army veteran from Altamonte Springs.

While campaigning, Johnson is handing voters flyers that ask: “Why does Mills lie about his military service? … He is committing Stolen Valor.”   

According to a follow-up article by Harper this week, “…Michael Johnson, told The News-Journal in October – two months after the OCE’s referral to the Ethics Committee – he had mailed a 55-page “criminal complaint” against Mills to the Attorney General and FBI.”

As I understand it, at issue is Rep. Mills’ claim to have been awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroism during combat in Iraq.  His detractors believe he may have conflated his military service with time spent as a security contractor in Iraq, which apparently occurred after his discharge from the Army.  

Earlier this year, the Army completed a review of Mills’ awards and confirmed he received the Bronze Star and several other service-related medals in a July memorandum.

Then, in August we learned that Mills provided the News-Journal with a Form 638 – the official written recommendation for the Bronze Star – signed by retired Brigadier General Arnold Gordon-Bray, who corroborated to the News-Journal that he signed the recommendation.

“Bray himself told The News-Journal that he did sign a recommendation for Mills, but neither he nor Mills answered the question of when it was signed.”

In the August article, Mills’ detractors pointed out the form was dated 2021 – and Gen. Gordon-Bray retired in 2012…

In his defense, Rep. Mills was quoted in a News-Journal report, “I’m tired of the slander and the defamation,” Mills said. “I ran for office to be able to serve the American people, not to defend something I did 20 years ago over and over and over.”

In addition, Rep. Mills has been credited with rescuing American citizens from Afghanistan in 2021, and in March of this year he escorted thirteen aid workers out of Haiti after criminal gangs took control of the Caribbean nation’s capital. 

The Office of Congressional Ethics also explained that Rep. Mills is rightfully considered innocent of the allegations until proven guilty, “…the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred…”        

In my view, if Rep. Mills is in fact a combat veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in Iraq – he deserves an immediate apology from anyone who made formal accusations of stolen valor.

However, if the insinuations brought to the OEC are true – then Rep. Mills owes his constituents – and anyone who served honorably in the Global War on Terror – an immediate apology, right before he resigns from the United States House of Representatives…

In my view, it is that serious.

Claiming false service accomplishments and unearned awards for valor dishonors the service of those brave souls who earned the respect they so richly deserve with their blood, sweat, and courage.  

Including those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Having read the timeline and assorted items of “evidence” as posted at www.corymillswatch.com  I must admit, some things in Rep. Mills’ official military records (as presented in the article and on the website) didn’t add up to me. 

If you live in Florida’s 7th Congressional District – or are simply concerned about good governance, honesty, and personal integrity in public office – I encourage you to follow the OCE’s investigation and determinations.  

In my view, if this is a case of mudslinging gone horribly outside the bounds of ethical campaigning (a wide-open space in the scorched earth bloodbath that is modern politics) then it should be Exhibit A in the case to stop the personal destruction by and between candidates for elective office – something that has a chilling effect on good people considering public service. 

Determining the truth is important to preserving what remains of the public’s tattered trust in the institutions of government, the steady erosion of which I fear will bring terrible repercussions if we don’t reverse this “anything goes” atmosphere that our apathy has created at all levels.  

Sitting representatives like Mr. Mills have a moral and ethical obligation to tell the truth and conduct themselves in a manner that reflects honorably on the House of Representatives, their sworn office, and the district they serve.

That means speaking the unvarnished truth to voters about their background and service.

In my view, these are moral imperatives for holding a position of public trust – and they should not be subject to quibbling, obfuscation, or false witness for cheap political gain on either side of the aisle.

This one bears watching…

Halifax Humane Society

Kudos to Gala Chair Nancy Lohman and all the wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and donors who raised a record setting $537,501 for animal welfare programs during the Halifax Humane Society’s Paws & Pearls Fur Ball held earlier this month at Ocean Center. 

According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer this week, “…the black-tie gala, presented by Subaru of Daytona, united over 600 of the region’s most passionate animal advocates and community leaders, a press release stated. Emmy-winning television star Brandon McMillan, of CBS’s Lucky Dog, headlined the event.

“This milestone achievement is a testament to the incredible kindness and commitment of our community,” said Sean Hawkins, CEO of Halifax Humane Society. “Thanks to the unwavering support of Subaru of Daytona, our sponsors, and every single guest, we can continue saving the lives of the 15,000 animals who depend on us every year.”

The Halifax Humane Society has been serving the needs of Halifax area animals since 1937 as a full-service “open-door” animal shelter that helps thousands of animals annually in Volusia County.

During this season of giving, I encourage everyone to make a tax-deductible donation to assist the many wonderful programs and educational initiatives sponsored by the Halifax Humane Society.

To learn how you can help, please visit www.halifaxhumanesociety.org

If you live in Flagler County and want to support animal services and welfare, I encourage you to donate to the Flagler Humane Society at www.flaglerhumanesociety.org

Volusia Republican Executive Committee

A tip of the cap to all those who worked diligently behind the scenes to orchestrate a smooth (and much needed) change of leadership at the Volusia Republican Executive Committee. 

Following a shambolic on-again/off-again meeting, Maryann Pistilli, a longtime Republican operative who chaired President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida campaign, took the reins of the Volusia County Republican Party after defeating John Casaburro and William Sell during an election held Saturday in Daytona Beach.

Prior to the vote, controversial former VREC Chair Paul Deering must have seen the bold handwriting on the wall and decided to sit out the internal election…

According to reports, the VREC retained Cathy DiBernardino as secretary and John Reid as treasurer.

It’s no secret that former Chairman Deering’s contentious manipulation of the “Official Republican Voter Guide” earlier this year brought things to a head for many Volusia Republicans, but an October article by Al Everson writing in the West Volusia Beacon brought something more sinister to light.

According to the Beacon’s disturbing report:

“Rosa C. Campbell, who is herself a member of the local Republican Executive Committee, alleges Deering and others engaged in discrimination “against certain types of Conservative members of VCREC by turning them away from joining [the] committee.”

Campbell’s complaint was first filed with the West Volusia Branch of the NAACP, but she has in recent days delivered a refined complaint to the U.S. District Court in Orlando. Contacted by phone, Campbell told The Beacon that she has not yet hired a lawyer to represent her, but she is searching for one. In the filing with the NAACP that accompanies her federal complaint, Campbell writes that Deering, on Feb. 11, 2018, “referred to me as the token Black” in the REC and “made negative comments about Hispanics.

Since that time I tried to get along with Chairman Deering at the General meetings, but he would always ignore me when I raised my hand,” she wrote.

Campbell also wrote that Deering “had me removed from a candidate endorsement meeting on June 25, 2024 because I was taking pictures of candidates speaking, that I would vote on their endorsement by the Republican party and listed in the voter guide.”

Last week, in advance of the VREC election, former Chairman Deering again tried to maneuver around the process by unilaterally cancelling the meeting – a move the Republican Party of Florida put the kibosh on – and the vote proceeded as scheduled on Saturday…

In my view, petty tyrants have always been a problem in local political organizations – typically clubbish cliques that often operate in diametric opposition to the egalitarian principles they claim to represent.

Discrimination and bullying have no place in our democratic system, despite what some high-powered partisan martinets might think, and I commend the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee for refusing to tolerate Deering’s exclusion and manipulation any longer.

Volusia County School Board  

“The Volusia County School Board voted to approve Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s four-year contract at its school board meeting Tuesday.

The motion, made by Ruben Colón and seconded by Jamie Haynes carried with a 4-1 vote.

Donna Brosemer was in the minority. She felt the board should table the decision until an upcoming meeting so that newly elected board members, including herself, could have a say in the contract.

“Just allow us a little bit of time to have some input and be able to discuss some of the terms that we might question,” Brosemer said. “We have not been given that opportunity, and when this was negotiated, you knew we were coming, and so, I think it’s fair to us and board members to have a better sense of the overall process.”

“My position is still,” she continued. “… this is not ripe, and we have time to cure it. We have time to discuss it. If it is as solid and logical as you describe, then wonderful. But I don’t think that we have had a full opportunity to find out.”

–Reporter Mary Ellen Ritter, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia County School Board approves Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s four-year contract,” Thursday, December 12, 2024

As the Volusia County School Board stumbles from one weird embarrassment to another, last week – with questions of timing and transparency still unanswered – the majority bowed to external political pressure and voted to approve a bloated contract with Superintendent Carmen Balgobin.

Despite the fiduciarily responsible arguments of newly elected member Donna Brosemer, the others seemed hellbent on approving a new four-year agreement with Balgobin – one that gifts her an 8.7% increase taking her salary from $245,000 to $280,000, with all the perquisites and trimmings, such as health insurance, including vision and dental, an addition medical supplement of $500 per month and life insurance coverage.

By comparison, teachers and other instructional personnel were thrown a 3% bone earlier this year… 

In addition to having all school holidays off, Superintendent Balgobin will be gifted twenty calendar days of vacation, accrue one sick day per month, and six days of personal leave per year.

In addition to a county owned vehicle, cellular phone, and computer, the taxpayers of Volusia County will contribute to a slush fund that Balgobin can use – apparently at her sole discretion – to “…participate in civic and community activities as well as activities that promote good relationships with the public and area stakeholders.”

Merry Christmas, indeed…  

The new agreement was negotiated in effective darkness – with the full knowledge that two new members would be seated following the November election – then ramrodded through with three months remaining before the board needed to commit to a new contract. 

In my view, it became apparent the fix was in after listening to former School Board Chair Jamie Haynes mewl the Poormouth Blues – whining about all the normal expenses of living (things you and I are responsible for everyday) that Balgobin was forced to go in her own incredibly deep pocket for under the old contract (I never feel sorry for someone commanding $245,000 in public funds plus benefits…) – before the board voted 4-1 to put the yoke of Balgobin back on students, teachers, parents, staff, and taxpayers for another four-years.

What about goals, performance metrics, and expectations you ask? 

Apparently, they will cobble those afterthoughts together the minute Jamie Haynes learns the difference between a school improvement plan and districtwide strategic goals…   

To her credit, the voice of reason was District 4 representative Donna Brosemer, who smartly cast the lone dissenting vote to postpone this half-baked agreement until members could have discussed it at a public meeting.  

It is no secret that in Volusia County, malleability, averageness, and mediocrity reign supreme; and once again, the School Board has proven that Superintendent Carmen Balgobin is the perfect fit for those abysmal metrics…     

Thanks for participating Volusia County voters:  The more things change, the more they stay the same…    

Quote of the Week

“(Volusia County) Council members dream of spending millions on a motocross facility but have found to their great surprise that residents object to having one in their backyards. And they have repeatedly tried to open Tiger Bay State Forest to all-terrain vehicles, ATVs, over the objections of forest managers, hikers, birders and environmentalists.

Turning the state forest into an ATV track is an evergreen proposal for the Council. It draws a crowd of objectors when it’s on the agenda, so the Council arranges to vote on the issue without any mention on the agenda. Problem solved!

As the holidays approached in 2023, the Council voted to advocate for ATVs before a nearly empty chamber during closing comments in the last minutes of the last meeting of last year. Smooth move!

And back in 2019, the council also took a surprise vote to support ATV traffic in the protected area. The backlash was swift, and the council reversed itself.

On Dec. 3, the issue came up again. This time, under the agenda heading “2025 Proposed State Legislative Priority List.” Who knew that getting ATVs into a state forest was a state legislative priority for the county? It is now.”

–Editorialist Mark Lane, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “County Council sneaks in an ATV in Tiger Bay vote yet again,” Saturday, December 14, 2024

Once again, the great News-Journal editorialist Mark Lane hits the proverbial nail on the head with his thoughts on the Volusia County Council’s patented use of what I call public policy by ambush – the pernicious practice of voting on off-the-agenda items in the waning moments of public meeting to avoid citizen input or opposition.

Earlier this month, the method was used to worm the perennially failed notion of allowing ATVs in the Tiger Bay State Forest onto Volusia County’s 2025 legislative priority list. 

You read that right.

At a time when taxpayers are clamoring for flood mitigation, transportation infrastructure, utilities upgrades, and clean water initiatives, the majority of our representatives on the Volusia County Council see permitting ATVs in a pristine pine forest and wildlife habitat as a public urgency?   

In his excellent piece, Mr. Lane shined a bright light on the County Council’s recent 6-1 vote to send yet another letter to “Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson asking the state to allow off-road vehicles to tear up the state forest. Council Chairman Jeff Brower acted in his familiar role as the only dissenting vote.”

In my view, Mr. Lane’s piece illuminated the gaslighting machinations of District 3 Councilman Danny Robins – who, in my view, has made a cottage industry finding timewasting solutions to non-existent problems:

“Getting ATVs in the state forest has long been a priority for District 3 County Councilman Danny Robins. “I hope that we can all sit down at the table and work this out and come to some sort of compromise,” he said piously.

A hilarious statement given that the Council has repeatedly sandbagged environmentalists. You’re welcome to the table … oops! dinner’s already been served and we’ve cleared the dishes.”

Perfect.

Many thanks to the great Mark Lane for so eloquently saying what the rest of us are thinking.

And Another Thing!

Reverberations from the bombshell revelation that Volusia County School Board Chair Jessie Thompson is an admitted liar and meanspirited nutcase continued across the political spectrum this week – leaving many stakeholders baffled – and others downright angry that Ms. Thompson hasn’t shown the basic decency to step aside and avoid further humiliation for district schools.   

That’s what happens when self-righteous politicians lose the human emotion of shame. 

As a result, on January 14, the Volusia County School Board will begin 2025 with yet another hyper-dramatic shitshow – a political Kabuki played out in three acts – a livestreamed stage production where Ms. Thompson’s fellow members will consider whether to rightfully remove her as board chair after she lost the moral authority to lead when she disparaged students and openly bragged about providing false information to colleagues during meetings – including the apparent manipulation of an active district contract for reasons yet to be explained…  

When confronted at the end of a tense meeting earlier this month, Ms. Thompson proffered a lukewarm apology, claiming she “chose those words poorly.” 

Bullshit.

The fact is, Ms. Thompson didn’t misspeak.  She knew exactly what she was trying to accomplish, and in doing so brought shame on herself, the Volusia County School Board, and the Moms for Liberty organization.   

In my view, Volusia County taxpayers have the right to expect a degree of integrity, emotional stability, and truthfulness from those who make decisions that affect the lives of thousands of students, teachers, and staff, including the administration of an annual budget now north of $1.2 billion.     

Conducting public affairs with honor is Chairwoman Thompson’s sacred obligation to her constituents and stakeholders – and she has failed to uphold the moral and ethical standards her elected position demands.  As a result, many believe it is now imperative that she step down and allow voters to elect someone who better represents their interests.

Earlier this week, something called Citizens for Truth and Justice in Education of Volusia County, took exception to Thompson’s practice of placing a bible on the dais during public meetings in a “My View” column published in the Ormond Beach Observer.   

I have no problem with Chairwoman Thompson placing the Good Book in front of her – I just wish she would open it and turn to the part that says, “Ye shall not deal falsely, neither lie one to another…”

Although Ms. Thompson bills herself as a comedienne, I’ll be damned if I find anything funny about attacking the ethnicity of a fellow elected official, belittling children she brands intellectually inferior, besmirching the character and motivations of other board members, or spewing lies as a means of ramrodding public policy or approving district contracts – especially a paid agreement with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.    

Those aren’t “values” – they are the earmarks of someone out of their depth – a cheap role-player who uses props and costumes to sell an act, when, in reality, they lack the smarts, political acumen, and interpersonal skills to negotiate items in a forthright and collegial way, and those who pay the bills, or rely on Volusia County District Schools for their education or livelihood, should not be forced to accept this phony in a leadership role.      

Unfortunately, that is the recurring fate We, The Little People suffer here on the “Fun Coast” – a place where party bosses and influential insiders cast D-list posers to play a stereotypical role – then, once elected, they transmogrify into something that bears no resemblance to the candidate we voted for.

Bait and switch.  Smoke and mirrors.  Gaslighting and subversion.  

In my view, the best Christmas present Chairwoman Thompson could gift her constituents and colleagues is to tender her immediate resignation from the Volusia County School Board as fitting recompense for her admitted sabotage of the legislative process, and the public trust.

That’s all for me.  Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

________________________________

Dear Members of the Loyal Barker’s View Tribe:

I’ll be taking a few days off next week to spend time with family and friends celebrating this joyous season!

May peace be with you and those you hold dear.

From the Barker family to yours, Merry Christmas, and all best wishes for a happy, healthy, and most prosperous 2025!

MDB

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

Volusia School Board Chair Jessie “Whackadoodle” Thompson

During my productive life in law enforcement, I found myself in some scary spots. Chaotic, confusing, and frighteningly dark places that left me with more questions than answers. 

That said, I can honestly report that I have never been anywhere more terrifying than our recent collective stroll through the haunted and horribly disturbed mind of Volusia County School Board Chair Jessie Thompson. 

Whoa.  I’ve seen some shit in my time, folks – but this takes the cake.  Hell, it takes the whole damn bakery… 

According to a disturbing report by Mary Ellen Ritter writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, during the Moms for Liberty 2024 Joyful Warriors Summit in Washington D.C. this summer, our recently named Volusia County School Board chair Jessie Thompson apparently had something of a psychotic purge during a breakout session entitled “How to Work With Your School Board.”

While pontificating on behalf of something called the Florida Conservative Coalition of School Board Members – a klatch Ms. Thompson runs out of her home (?) – our new School Board chair “…made a disparaging remark about Deltona High School students, admitted to feeding false data to the board to get agenda items passed, and spoke at length about her poor relationships with fellow board members.”

Unfortunately, the weirdness didn’t end there…

In a video posted to social media by an outraged Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila Jr., Chairwoman Thompson is heard casting suspicion on Deltona High School graduation rates – while taking a cheap swipe at students she paints as intellectually inferior to fit her narrative:

“We have one high school, and I don’t mean to take anything away from students or parents, and it is a Title One school, so high-five for doing this, they had a 100% graduation rate last year — 100%.  Now, I’ve walked that school multiple times. I’ve met some bright students, and I’ve met some students that I wouldn’t trust filling up my tank of gas, so I find it really hard to believe that they graduate, and graduation is now turned into basically just handing out participation ribbons.”  

Then, Ms. Thompson showed her true colors…   

According to the article, Mayor Avila claims Ms. Thompson referred to District 5 School Board member Ruben Colón “…as a “tan gentleman” when discussing how he and other “super liberal school board members” respond to public comments from “liberal wackadoodles.”

“We have a tan gentleman who just, like, gets all puffy,” Thompson said. “He gets filled with pride because he is supported, and then that encourages him to do some more crazy nonsense. “Avila also requested Deltona residents to contact Thompson directly and ask for a public apology.”

For the record, while Mr. Colón and I rarely agree on the issues and politics of the day, in my experience, he remains one of the most friendly, accessible, and responsive members of the board – never afraid to explain district issues or defend his position – always open to constructive criticism.   

In perhaps the most bizarre (and disturbing) revelation from Ms. Thompson’s diatribe, she openly admitted to intentionally providing her fellow members with false information in order to pass certain items coming before the board – including a damning disclosure that she “…worked with our sheriff’s department to get something put into that contract, and then they voted to pass it without reading it through.”

Wow.

To her credit, Moms for Liberty-Volusia Chair Jenifer Kelly stated in the News-Journal she was “astonished” by the shocking revelations – creating distance from Thompson’s cringeworthy invective – explaining that her organization does not “support or agree” with Thompson’s comments as “Most of it is false.”

“Moms for Liberty-Volusia is absolutely disgusted and disturbed by her inappropriate comments about students and other board members,” Kelly said on social media. “We disavow any affiliation with school board member Jessie Thompson.” Additionally, Kelly noted that the organizer of the national conference did not consult her prior to scheduling Thompson and also that the local organization did not endorse Thompson as a candidate.”

After publicly describing her relationship with her elected colleagues as “I’m hated by the rest of my board, and I can deal with that emotionally. They’re not nice people,” Ms. Thompson took a moment to irretrievably sever any collegial relationship she may have developed with newly elected board members Donna Brosemer and Krista Goodrich, both of whom were candidates during Thompson’s odd breakdown in Washington:

“One’s running literally because she wants to do other offices, so … this is like a building block kind of thing, and she’s on vacation in Europe a lot, and so … I’m gonna reach out to her. I’ve started to feed her some of the things that are important to me, like teaching kids how to read … (and) send that olive branch out to her,” Thompson said. “And then the other one — I like the word ‘wackadoodle’ — She’s a little bit of a wackadoodle, not politically speaking, just like her own personal things. And she’s a, she’s a very power hungry young lady, but she’s not that young. But anyway, so I’m reaching out to her, too.”

Look, no one has been more critical of the Volusia County School Board and Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s administration than I have.  In my view, the slow disintegration of stakeholder confidence in the board, the ham-handed maladministration, and the resultant exodus of students, teachers, and staff, is a disaster of epic proportion.

This is different.  And it has nothing to do with liberal/conservative values or democrat/republican rancor.   

If true, Ms. Thompson’s falsehoods and defamations are the antithesis of ‘how to collaborate with your school board’ and have weakened public trust in Volusia County Schools.

During Tuesday evenings School Board meeting, Thompson’s target, District 5 representative Ruben Colón, showed grace and restraint in expressing his disappointment – and received a mewling apology from Thompson (who’s not nearly as brash outside an echo chamber).

In turn, Mr. Colón was unanimously supported when he moved to revisit Thompson’s appointment as School Board Chair at the January 14 meeting.

Look, I dismiss Ms. Thompson’s half-assed mea culpa as a self-serving ploy to save face on the hot seat. 

Before the meeting, Ms. Thompson doubled-down on her offensive comments during her 15-minutes of infamy in an emailed response to WESH-2 claiming “Some are offended because I’ve pointed out that a tan guy is tan. And that some of our graduates aren’t up to an acceptable standard of intelligence. Yet they’re not offended that year after year kids are struggling to learn to read. And they’re not offended that prisons base the number of beds they need on 3rd grade reading scores.”

Bullshit.

In my view, it is time for this meanspirited half-bright to take her leave from the Volusia County School Board. 

With an annual budget now north of $1.5 billion, taxpayers, students, teachers, and staff deserve strong, ethical leadership chairing the Volusia County School Board – a true servant/leader we can trust to make complex decisions without fear of subterfuge, a personal agenda, or worse…

I nominate newly elected District 4 representative Donna Brosemer.

Now that Chairwoman Thompson has been exposed as a habitual liar, someone who has admittedly used deception to subvert the contracting and budget allocation process – a dimwit in pancake makeup who lacks the political, interpersonal, or negotiation skills to effectively legislate public education policies without creating a false narrative – it is time that those law enforcement agencies charged with defending the public trust (and public funds) open an investigation to determine the extent to which Ms. Thompson’s machinations and artifice have corrupted the system. 

Daytona Beach Sports Complex?    

Last week, Halifax area residents learned more about a nascent plan to construct a $185 million sports complex on city owned land west of I-95 off International Speedway Boulevard.

Yeah.  That city owned land…

Some Daytona Beach taxpayers I spoke with – who are already heavily invested in commercial real estate, the restaurant business, dirt mining, apartment complexes, aircraft manufacturing, logistics and warehousing, etc. – remain cautiously optimistic that an entity who is actually in the sports entertainment business might assume the risk on this one…    

According to a report by Eileen Zaffiro-Keen writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the facility would include a 10,000-seat stadium, multi-use fields, courts, baseball diamonds, a swimming pool, ice rink, concessions, and associated amenities.  

“If the facility does come to be, the hope is Daytona Beach would become home to more than 100 sports tournaments each year – everything from basketball to gymnastics to baseball. Concerts could even be held on the property.”

Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry thinks “It’s a beautiful idea,” but one that will require “a multitude of investors.”

“It’s a great idea to expand the local brand.” 

(What “brand”?  Did I miss something?)    

I found Mayor Henry’s quote about “investors” interesting, because an article by Andreas Butler in the Daytona Times published earlier this year dropped an interesting tidbit, “The city could impose a sales tax to help pay for the project…”

Really? 

Is that even possible? 

I’m asking, because anyone paying attention knows that we need every available tax dollar to begin sorting out the terrible infrastructure issues brought by malignant overdevelopment in Daytona Beach and beyond… 

(Find the Daytona Times piece here: https://tinyurl.com/3kv2f54e )

In a follow up by Zaffiro-Keen this week, Daytona Beach City Manager Deric Feacher listed several other possibilities:

“When asked Friday how the project could be funded, City Manager Deric Feacher listed several possibilities. He said tourism tax dollars could be tapped, and both local colleges and Volusia County’s K-12 schools could be partners.

The county government could also become a partner, and the city of Daytona Beach could take out a loan, Feacher said.

The city could also look into selling the Municipal Stadium property on LPGA Boulevard to a developer who might want to build houses there since the land is near residential neighborhoods, he said.

Professional athletes could also become investors, he said.

Feacher noted there could be a 10-20 year buildout, so the money could be put together over time.”

In addition, the Clearwater-based company that was paid $172,000 to plan the complex has suggested a “professional operator” run the facility, not the City of Daytona Beach.

According to reports, Daytona Beach Economic and Strategic Opportunities Director Jeffrey Brown said last week, “…the city would work to get the revenue from the tournaments they would host to pay for the cost of operating the facilities. 

(Wait?  Is Mr. Brown suggesting that the facility will pay for itself? Crazy talk…)

“We’re going to get as much funding from outside the city as we can to try to make this a smaller burden on the taxpayers,” and the next step in the process is for “city staff” to meet with “potential investors” to gauge interest in funding the facility…

Wait. The same senior “staff” that negotiated the purchase of that asbestos-laden house of horrors on Beach Street?

What could possibly go wrong? 

At this early stage, the concept appears to be just another pie-in-the-sky “public/private” partnership in waiting (you know, where public funds augment the profit motives of private interests), but the possibility gives us something to think about while we’re stuck in four cycles of a traffic signal on Boomtown Boulevard…   

Food for thought like, “When are Daytona Beach and Volusia County taxpayers ever going to be off the hook for funding the for-profit schemes of private sector interests?”  Or “When will our elected and appointed officials learn that there are ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’?”

Time will tell…

Quote of the Week

At the shelter board’s regular meeting Monday evening, Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg said First Step still has about $120,000 coming in each month.

The financial uncertainty comes in the wake of a whistleblower complaint against First Step Shelter brought by three former employees about six months ago.

One of the employees quit shortly after the complaint was filed, and the other two were fired. The two fired employees have retained an attorney and are contemplating filing a lawsuit against the shelter.

The shelter board hired a local attorney to look into the whistleblower complaints. The attorney finished his probe months ago and filed a report, but the shelter board has not released the report.

Daytona Beach resident Anne Ruby told shelter board members at their meeting Monday evening that she has spoken to several County Council members, and they want to see the investigator’s report.

Ruby said she doesn’t feel the whistleblower investigation was thorough enough, and that it’s left “a big cloud over the shelter.”

–Civic Activist Anne Ruby, speaking truth to the First Step Shelter Board, as quoted by reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Keen in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “First Step Shelter is 3 months deep into its fiscal year and uncertain on $400K in funding,” Tuesday, December 10, 2024

While I can be hypercritical of the errors and omissions of the Volusia County Council, in my view, one thing they ‘got right’ this year was withholding the $400,000 annual stipend taxpayers pony up to keep the enigmatic First Step Shelter program alive.

In my view, their hesitance in throwing good money after bad showed a level of fiscal responsibility that bunch isn’t normally known for…

Most agree that the needs across our region are simply too great to devote a combined $4 million in scarce public resources to a single entity every five-years, while a very visible segment of the homeless population who are ineligible or incapable of transitioning to permanent housing remain without services and outreach.

According to the News-Journal, “Now shelter funding is slated to be on the Council’s Jan. 21 agenda, forcing First Step Shelter to push through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays not knowing if the organization’s roughly $1.5 million budget has permanently lost nearly one-third of its funding.

The Daytona Beach City Commission also still needs to vote on whether to continue its $400,000 annual grant for the shelter, and the First Step Shelter Board has still not ratified its lease agreement to continue using the city-owned shelter building off of U.S. Highway 92 five miles west of Interstate 95. Both of those matters, however, appear to be headed for approval.”

Civic activist Anne Ruby is right – rocked by a still unaddressed scandal, the threat of possible whistleblower lawsuits, transparency issues, questions of financial irregularities, and maladministration – a very dark cloud hangs heavy over the First Step Shelter and its governing board.

Only the disinfecting light of day can change that.   

Sadly, it has become painfully obvious to anyone watching that this perplexing program will never stand on its own two feet, and our elected officials now have a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers that demands a change in leadership at First Step before one more public dollar is allocated.

And Another Thing!

On December 29, Volusia County will celebrate our 170^th anniversary. 

One would think after that many years, we would have matured into a place where good governance holds more weight than the profit motives of speculative developers with a chip in the game?

I was contemplating our collective civic fate recently and was reminded of that famous scene from the Broadway play Billy Rose’s Jumbo, when Jimmy Durante – leading a live elephant – is stopped by a police officer who asks, “What are you doing with that elephant?”

Durante reply’s – “What elephant?”

That comedic exchange reminded me of the Volusia County Council’s reaction as flood victims continue to show up, en masse, and demand action from those they elected to represent their interests. 

Let’s face it, with Volusia now ranked as the most flood prone county in the State of Florida (seventh in the nation) the problem is getting harder to ignore.  But that hasn’t stopped our elected dullards in the Ivory Tower of Power at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building in DeLand from continuing to ignore the obvious and kick the can down the trail with frightening regularity.    

But I’m more than happy to keep pointing it out from my perch up here in the cheap seats…

Look, like Roosevelt said, no one likes to hear where the strongman stumbled, or how the doer of deeds could have done them better; however, in my view, external criticism is important to moderating an impassive, self-serving, and unresponsive bureaucracy.  

At best, I am a dilettante editorialist, at worst a blowhard with internet access – always musing on the motivations of those perennial politicians, influential insiders, and mediocre do-nothings that, in my view, are actively destroying our quality of life – clumsily plowing forward without a comprehensive vision for our future beyond the mercenary self-interests of their political benefactors.  

Over time, those figureheads on the dais of power have been conditioned to simply do as they are told, convinced that their senior staff are all-knowing soothsayers – “the truth, the light, and the way” – and any external input or criticism is never to be believed (unless, of course, they are paying a high-priced consultant to tell them what they want/need to hear…)

I take no pleasure in being the proverbial turd in the civic punchbowl.  Barker the Bitcher – the crusty curmudgeon with a jaded view, the pissed-off pessimist – always disapproving and disgruntled, tilting at windmills and challenging the perceived status quo.  

(That’s not true.  I relish the role…)   

Last week, after I took the Volusia County Council to task for their praxis of “public policy by ambush” – the art of deftly passing controversial off-the-agenda items with little, if any, public notice or input – (most recently limiting the public business meeting to just six-hours) I received a terse note from a powerful sitting politician taking me to the woodshed.

My high-powered critic accused me of ignoring the “truth and facts.” Charging that I am engaging in “character assassination” and being a “flat out bully.”

That’s rich…

This from a ranking member of that savage tribe who has routinely engaged in the worst form of political oppression, marginalization, and calumniation in suppressing Chairman Jeff Brower’s dogged efforts to urge definitive action on the most galvanizing issue of our time… 

Despite the heartburn this blogsite continues to evoke in our thin-skinned ‘powers that be’ – I plan to keep up this Quixotic pursuit of spouting one man’s jaded opinion on the issues of the day – neither always right nor always wrong. 

In my view, when it comes to the intrigues of “Fun Coast” politics and government, we desperately need an alternative opinion, a challenge to the sedating drone of a canned “media release” produced by some “public information” mouthpiece paid handsomely to spin the facts and construct a skewed narrative.

Especially now that our neutered watchdog of a local newspaper continues its transformation into a poor man’s Zagat’s guide…

While limiting public meetings to six-hours may reduce the Volusia County Council’s time on the hotseat – frustrated residents dealing with the personal and financial devastation of development-induced flooding are not going to stop demanding answers – nor should they.

And it is increasingly clear they are not going to accept the old “bureaucratic two-step” much longer.

For instance, last Thursday, Councilman Don Dempsey hosted a “town hall” in DeLand where outraged flood victims let anyone who would listen know they’re mad as hell, and they aren’t going to take it anymore.

According to an excellent report by WESH-2’s Gail Paschall-Brown:

“Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower was passionate as he spoke to residents who packed this town hall meeting Thursday night in Deland.

But he was preaching to a choir of folks who are sick and tired of being forced out of their homes or losing their livelihood due to floodwaters caused by recent hurricanes, relentless rains and development.

“There’s plenty of flooding, and with the development they’re trying to approve now going in, it’s only going to get monumentally worse,” Volusia County resident Mitch Adams said.

“We can’t continue to make those decisions and call it progress. We have to stop doing the things we know that are causing the problems,” Brower said.

The audience applauded.”

Most telling, according to the report, Volusia County’s Public Works Director Ben Bartlett fell back on Volusia County’s tired modus operandi of procrastination and bureaucratic foot-dragging – putting time and distance between the heat of the moment and what comes next.  

“What are some typical solutions you might see to come out of these studies? The first one is a traditional stormwater system, stormwater ponds to store the water during the event, gravity conveyance system to bring the water to the pond, and then some sort of gravity system with a positive outfall to take the water away,” Benjamin Bartlett said.

In my view, at the dawn of 2025, if Volusia County’s highly compensated Public Works Director, Growth and Resource Mismanagement Director, or any of County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald’s senior coterie of incompetents still need more timewasting studies and analysis to address rampant flooding across the width and breadth of our region – we truly are in trouble… 

I’ve said this ad nauseum, but rather than confront the elephant in the room, our elected dullards stumble about in some stupor of conceit – unable to comprehend that We, The Little People are smart enough to understand that giving those inept senior officials who got us into this damnable infrastructure and flooding quagmire more time and money to figure a “solution” is the very definition of civic insanity.

That’s the uncomfortable truth no one in a position of power wants to address.

“What elephant?” indeed…   

No elected official who genuinely cares about the real needs of their long-suffering constituents should expect us to forgive, forget, and hand over more of our hard-earned money to those who have proven unworthy of our sacred trust.

In my view, it’s time we began that difficult discussion.

Volusia County.  Lowering the bar since 1854…

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, y’all!

Dear Barker’s View Readers:

Earlier this week my family suffered the tragic loss of a sweet and caring young man, taken from those who loved him far too soon.  I want to extend my deep appreciation for everyone who has kept my family in your thoughts.   

But I am not seeking your sympathy.  I want your help in preventing this far too frequent tragedy. 

Year after year, the “Fun Coast” marks one of the highest suicide rates in the state.  Last year, a shocking 119 people took their lives here in Volusia County – a grim statistic that equates to immeasurable loss for so many left behind.   

This Holiday Season if you are experiencing depression, mental health issues, substance abuse, feelings of hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, or know someone who is suffering, please reach out for help.

Confidential assistance is available by calling or texting the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 – or at www.988lifeline.org  – veterans can call 988 and press 1.    

“It isn’t weak to ask for help. It’s like using a flashlight when you’re lost in the dark.”

God bless & Merry Christmas, everyone.

MDB

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

Volusia County Council: Public Policy by Ambush.  Again.  

In my jaded view, the arrogance of ignorance that permeates the Volusia County Council is rooted in the fact our elected officials refuse to listen to the concerns of anyone other than those entrenched pseudo “experts” on the senior staff – and their uber-wealthy political benefactors – even as our community begs to be heard on the myriad issues facing the “Fun Coast.”

Look, we all understand that when we enter the halls of power at that Citadel of Self-importance that is the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building, the rules-are-the-rules, and they are inviolate.

For We, The Little People, anyway…

Rather than demonstrate a modicum of respect for the opinions and suggestions of taxpayers who come to DeLand and provide substantive input – our elected dullards openly ignore them – sitting in stone-faced silence atop the dais of power – subliminally communicating they could give two-shits about our concerns – refusing to offer answers, engage, or even acknowledge their constituents’ physical presence in the chamber.  

Them’s the rules, folks…

Of course, the rules change whenever our wholly compromised elected officials want to indulge the frequent ploy of “Public Policy by Ambush” – voting on critical issues and changing established protocols that directly affect our lives and livelihoods on the fly – usually at the end of a meeting when most have left the chamber or video feed, strategically leaving the details off the printed agenda to prevent even the possibility of contention or public input.

As always, these subjective “rules” are different depending upon which side of the dais you’re sitting on – and that breeds frustration, animosity, and anger – perpetuating the persistent “trust issue” that continues to hamstring civic and economic progress in Volusia County.

Last month, we witnessed another contentious meeting with nearly three-hours of emotional testimony from flood victims who gathered in the chamber and an overcapacity holding room to participate in the scheduled discussion of a temporary moratorium on future development until low impact development rules can be set.   

In keeping with the script, Councilman David “No Show” Santiago pulled one of his patented parliamentary mini-moves and acted to postpone a discussion of countywide flooding – the most serious threat to the public’s health and safety in our time – giving his handlers in the real estate development industry sixty more days to ramrod fill-and-build development…  

That didn’t sit well with soggy flood victims fed up with the bureaucratic runaround.   

So, just after midnight on November 20, District 3 Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins decided his fellow council members were exhausted after nine-hours of ignoring citizens and rubber stamping a choreographed agenda, and suggested they vote to limit public meetings to just six-hours… 

Do you think his “suggestion” was decided upon in advance – or did Mr. Robins’ just pull that bright idea out of his ass?  

Doing his best hipster impression, Councilman Robins said, “I’m down with nighttime meetings, but sometimes nothing good comes after certain times, like 10,11.”

Although he readily accepts $49,000 of our tax dollars annually, apparently, Mr. Robins isn’t “down” with devoting himself to the people’s business if it takes more than 12-hours a month… 

Bullshit.

According to a recent article in the Ormond Beach Observer announcing the change, Councilman Robins “…added that the council often has to make decisions on agenda items that cost the county millions of dollars, and often times, council members have been up as early as 4 in the morning. Robins also mentioned staff members and the public who have to stay up late with them and go to work early the next morning.”

Awww, poor widdle things… 

For the record, there are law enforcement officers, first responders, and others providing essential services throughout Volusia County who routinely work 12-hour shifts – everyday – physical, dangerous, and mentally taxing work – never once complaining that they are required to get up early or go to bed late in service to their community.  

This legislative shim-sham has nothing to do with “Gaslight” Robins’ bedtime… 

It’s just another tactic the stagnant “Old Guard” can use to further drag their well-worn heels in a paralytic ploy to keep kicking the hard issues down the dusty trail – and prevent Chaiman Brower from bringing laborious problems like, oh, massive development-induced flooding to the agenda.  

No time for that now.

But it wasn’t all about silencing Mr. Brower – “No Show” Santiago targeted those of us pay the bills as well. 

According to the Observer, “County Councilman David Santiago suggested also reducing the time for the public to speak from the customary three minutes for efficiency purposes when the council is discussing topics that bring a lot of public participation.

“I don’t think we should stop anybody from talking, but considering limiting that time a little bit more for efficiency purposes,” Santiago said. “… We do it in the Legislature all the time.”

Guess what, Mr. Santiago? You’re not in Tallahassee anymore (unless you’re still shilling for the insurance industry?)  We, The Little People of Volusia County are demanding you stop the strategic procrastination, roll-up your sleeves, and find answers to the disastrous effects of the malignant overdevelopment you continue to lobby for behind the scenes.   

There you have it. 

Per usual, limiting meetings to six-hours without thinking the issue through resulted in another shambolic meeting on Tuesday as votes were taken to extend the meeting – it was silly and disorganized (just as Danny Robins planned) – and resulted in another opportunity for Councilman Jake Johansson to take a swipe at Chairman Brower, admonishing his failure to “…manage our own frigging meeting.”

Of course, at the end of the day, Johansson got to stage one of his petty melodramas, while important items like the County Manager and County Attorney’s annual performance evaluations were pushed to a date uncertain due to the new time limitation that has now resulted in a backlog of important action items right out of the starting gate. 

On Wednesday we learned that “Jake the Snake” wants to bring his marionette show to the Florida Senate in 2026, announcing his intention to run against former state Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff when the reprehensible state Sen. “Terrible” Tommy Wright’s two-term run comes to a long-awaited end…  

How could Jake possibly endure those long and strenuous Senate sessions?

Whatever.

The fact is this Council’s clockwatching mediocrity, persistent lack of definitive solutions, and near-constant reluctance to do anything of substance is becoming a huge concern to weary taxpayers – and with flooding now becoming too widespread to ignore – the pleas of waterlogged victims are quickly becoming a political liability.

So, they try and limit their exposure with an arbitrary stopwatch…  

In my view, what is being perpetrated from the dais of power in DeLand is nothing short of official malfeasance and gross neglect of duty – and limiting meeting times while allowing County Manager Recktenwald and his inept senior coterie to openly bullshit and coddle anxious residents about all the things they are doing to mitigate flooding in the face of massive citizen pushback is Exhibit A.

Do you think that gross deception will be reflected in Mr. Recktenwald’s evaluation?    

Trust me.  History will not be kind to these compromised shysters.  Nor should it.

Volusia County School Board

In September, following a tumultuous period for Volusia County Schools, the former iteration of the School Board left a parting insult to students, teachers, and staff by gifting Superintendent Carmen Balgobin a glowing performance evaluation. 

That set the stage for ‘what comes next.’

Although this information was only recently made available on the School Board’s upcoming agenda, I have it on good authority that in the leadup to the November election, lame duck Board President Jamie Haynes surreptitiously negotiated a new four-year contract with Superintendent Balgobin in preparation for the expiration of her current agreement next summer. 

You read that right.

As I understand it, Balgobin’s new contract will include goodies like a $25,000 increase in her already obscene salary (about the median income of 20% of Volusia County’s strapped population) bringing the Superintendent’s annual haul to $280,000; a $500 monthly medical stipend, unlimited use of her car at our expense, a 20-week severance, etc., etc., etc.  

In my view, with teacher pay increases stagnant at 2-3%, most of the district staff on one-year contracts, the hemorrhage of qualified personnel continuing, teachers displaced, electives cancelled, enrichment programs cut, lack of transparency, not-so-veiled nepotism, the Osceola Elementary debacle that still stings with Ormond Beach officials and residents, the Balgobin administration’s ham-handed failure to plan for the end of Covid relief funds, draconian diktats, etc. – in my view, the board’s grossly padded evaluation (“Proficient”?) and outrageous proposed pay increase represents a swift kick in the teeth to stakeholders and Volusia County taxpayers.

It’s no secret that under Balgobin’s unique brand of “leadership,” the prior School Board lost all credibility with those it exists to serve – just one reason newly elected members Donna Brosemer and Krista Goodrich were tapped by voters to cut the dead wood and affect positive change.

Unfortunately, until our newly elected members can get up to speed, the bloated Balgobin administration will remain a rudderless ship of fools – cluelessly blundering from one high-profile gaffe to another – the tail constantly wagging the dog.

In my view, now is the time for our reconstituted School Board to give Superintendent Balgobin proper notice that her contract is in jeopardy – as required by the terms of her current agreement – set reasonable performance metrics and tie any increase in her salary and benefits to those received by rank-and-file instructional personnel. 

In my view, that is fair, equitable, and grossly generous given the circumstances teachers, students, and staff continue to endure.   

The Volusia County School Board will hold a Workshop/Work Session on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 12:30 p.m., followed by a regular School Board meeting beginning at 4:30 p.m.

This one should be interesting…   

Port Orange Councilman Lance Green

Call me callous, but I never feel sorry for powerful elected officials who get themselves in a trick bag due to their own stupid mistakes and proclivities. 

In times past, the antidote for self-inflicted personal and political humiliation was to quietly apologize then step aside.  Because admitting a mistake, having the moral courage to accept responsibility, and do what is necessary to preserve the dignity of the office is important to restoring the public’s trust in our system of governance.

Not anymore.

On Tuesday evening, Port Orange residents looked on as Mayor Scott Stiltner, Councilman Shawn Goepfert, and Councilman Lance Green, took the solemn Oath of Office to assume their vital role as keepers of the public trust – the normal transition of power following a municipal election.

What made the evening devastatingly abnormal was that Councilman Lance Green is currently under a foul cloud – facing criminal prosecution for driving under the influence, DUI with property damage, and obstructing an officer without violence – following a September traffic crash at Williamson Boulevard and Taylor Road.  

According to a report by Frank Fernandez writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal following then Councilman-elect Green’s arrest, we learned:

“A traffic camera video released after his arrest for DUI appears to show newly elected Port Orange Councilman Lance Green getting out of the driver’s seat of his pickup after it rear-ended another pickup, then walking around and getting in the passenger seat.

Green, who was with his wife, then claimed to police that she was driving.

The crash led to Green’s arrest 10 days after he won a seat on the Port Orange City Council, on which he would begin serving in December.”

Then, things went from bad to embarrassingly worse…

According to reports, while being questioned at the scene, Mrs. Green was captured on an officer’s body worn camera uttering the six words guaranteed to expose any self-important politician/spouse as the egomaniacal heels they are:

“Do you know who we are?”

Yeah.  I know… 

During Tuesday’s meeting, former Port Orange Fire Chief Ken Fustin – a personal hero of mine after he was publicly sacrificed on the altar of political expediency for courageously opposing the bullying and arrogance of Volusia County’s senior Public Protection staff – spoke in support of Councilman Green.

According to a News-Journal report this week, Fustin said, “Lance and his wife, Susie, made an unfortunate mistake that affected their reputation in this community,” Fustin said. “I can honestly and sincerely relate to the humiliation and criticizing they have publicly endured since that episode.”

Fustin pointed to the state statute that allows for a recall vote after 25% of an elected official’s term has expired.

“Personally, I think it will be yesterday’s news one year from now, and the citizens will hopefully be grateful for what Lance brings to the table,” Fustin added.

I disagree with Chief Fustin.

In my view, the good citizens of Port Orange should not have to hold their nose for a year (or more) as newly minted Councilman Green’s criminal charges wind their way through the judicial system – waiting for the other shoe to drop, hoping time and distance dilute the gravity and civic discomfiture of his behavior – while his constituents continue to question the character, veracity, and stability of their newly elected representative now perched on the dais of power. 

The result is a tragic loss of institutional trust – something we are beginning to see reflected everywhere – a time when we naturally expect that our politicians are compromised scoundrels, liars, cheats, or worse – and no personal, professional, or political conduct seems out of bounds.

In retirement, I relish my role as an inveterate drunk and inappropriate asshole – something I consider just deserts after a lifetime in municipal government service – where I tried hard every day to uphold the moral obligation of keeping one’s public and private life unsullied and avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.   

As Chief Fustin knows that is something easier said than done – but the personal responsibility of those who hold positions of trust.

Not anymore.  Apparently, now anything goes…    

I fear that falling expectations and the resultant loss of trust will have irreparable impacts on our system of governance. 

Hell, it already has. 

By accepting the sacred oath while under criminal prosecution for personal misconduct, I believe Councilman Green perpetuated that grim downward spiral.

While I appreciate Chief Fustin’s instinct to stand for a friend, in my view, it is important that we fight hard to ensure Councilman Green’s unfortunate situation remains the exception – not the accepted norm. 

Quote of the Week

“On the county’s east side, Halifax Urban Ministries normally coordinates with churches to get people out of the cold for a few nights. But the churches that normally step up and offer that help were not able to offer space on short notice, Halifax Urban Ministries Executive Director Buck James said Monday.

Providing overnight shelter requires finding volunteers, getting food, and offering blankets and other bedding if possible.

Daytona Beach’s First Step Shelter will move people staying in its outdoor safe zone into the First Step building, but will not be able to accommodate others seeking a warm place for the night.

“We are always a cold weather shelter, but we are limited in what we can do,” said First Step Shelter Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg. “Because we only have one person who will be here overnight, we’ll be limited to having the people in the safe zone inside.”

–Journalist Eileen Zaffiro-Keen, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “It’s going to be chilly, but shelter for those without places to stay is available,” Monday, December 2, 2024

It’s hard to believe that almost ten-years have passed since a ragtag horde of homeless people moved from the shadows of society and prominently encamped at a former county administration building on Beach Street after the City of Daytona Beach closed restroom facilities and removed benches from Manatee Island Park.

The city’s action was nothing new; however, the well organized and unanticipated response was eye-opening – and has had a lasting impact on the way we view homelessness.

The park closing was just business as usual – the furtherance of a long-term misguided strategy of doing the same thing over-and-over again while expecting different results. 

I know all too well. 

During my productive life I dealt with the mercurial homeless “problem” for years in much the same way.  One mistake compounding another…  

The equal and opposite reaction to law enforcement’s decades-long policy of institutional humiliation as a means of “controlling” the homeless population put the issue front-and-center that cold December of 2015, when ambulatory drunks, psychotic vagrants, the sick, lame, and crazy – unfortunate souls who long-ago fell through the gaping voids in our limited civic and social services – crawled out of the relative obscurity of the palmetto scrub and into the public eye.

That very visible demonstration proved that there is nothing like 80 or 90 homeless people bedding down and relieving themselves on the sidewalk in front of a public building to bring attention to the countless issues that contribute to homelessness – and government’s historic unwillingness to address it…

In the decade since we came face-to-face with the “problem,” you and I still encounter the homeless across the width and breadth of Volusia County daily – all while various programs continue to complete for scarce funding.  

In 2017, Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry sold Volusia County taxpayers on what was then described as a 24-hour 7-day a week come-as-you-are “low barrier” shelter.  That became something of a bait-and-switch letdown as what we were promised transitioned into the enigmatic (and incredibly expensive) program called First Step Shelter – something of a publicly funded invitation only “transitional homeless shelter” constructed on city owned land off International Speedway Boulevard.  

If you ask the First Step’s misguided Board of Directors, they will readily look you in the eye and gush about what a rousing success the program has been – despite the heartbreaking scenes we see outside our windshield – or the swept under the rug ugliness and internal dysfunction we all read about in the funny papers…   

Frankly, with temperatures dipping into the upper 30’s this week, I’m tired of arguing about it.  

While I continue to bitch and moan over whatever First Step Shelter is or isn’t, the day-to-day needs of those who remain unsheltered and on the streets are quietly being met by programs such as Halifax Urban Ministries, The Bridge in DeLand, the Jewish Federation’s Jerry Doliner Food Bank, and other faith based nonprofit organizations dedicated to addressing the urgent necessities of those less fortunate while seeking grassroot solutions to the growing problem of homelessness and food insecurity in Volusia County. 

As some of the coldest weather of the season descended this week, it became clear that the need for warming areas and overnight shelters far outweighed current resources as many social service providers were caught without adequate staff, space, food, or bedding to provide for those exposed to the elements. 

During this season of giving, I hope you will consider one of the many impactful programs working hard to provide for those less fortunate in Volusia County.   

A good place to start is www.halifaxurbanministries.org

Your generosity will make a true difference.

And Another Thing!  

“Sweaty America-Last RINO Randy Fine is a borderline criminal, who has ethics charges currently pending against him, was recently sentenced to “anger management classes” by a respected Florida judge, and is one of the most corrupt and despicable people to ever hold an office in Florida.  He also called Governor DeSantis an “anti-Semite.”

His voting record is worse:  RINO Randy Fine voted for the biggest tax increase in Florida history, the largest gun-control bill in Florida history, filed bills to create more woke “Hate Speech” laws, endorsed AGAINST Trump before flip-flopping, & dozens of other very bad bills.  (He also used to privately trash Donald Trump to me and many others while we were supporting Trump in the Florida Legislature.)

He is sociopath with no integrity—which is why the Florida Commission on Ethics has already found probable cause for current the charges against him.

I’ve heard several names of VERY solid people who are considering getting in the race who I will be happy to help to the utmost of my ability as the Chairman of the Lake County Republican Party, as I know our party will endorse against Fine (he is despised here).  We don’t need more RINOs in Congress.”

–Lake County Commissioner and former Florida Representative Anthony Sabatini (R) writing on X to announce he will not be running to replace Michael Waltz in the April 1 Congressional District 6 special election, Tuesday, November 26, 2024   

As someone who spent the bulk of my adult life as a registered Republican, I understand the savagery of partisan politics and the obligatory public disembowelment of one’s opponent – especially those from the opposing party.   

Just one reason I am now a confirmed No Party Affiliate.    

But the above description of Florida Senator-elect Randy Fine came from Anthony Sabatini – a veteran politician, staunch conservative, and Chair of the Lake County Republican Party…

I suspect President-elect Donald Trump knows Randy Fine about as well as he knows me. 

Because if he did, I can’t believe President Trump would endorse this bombastic buffoon to represent us here in Florida’s 6^th Congressional District.  In my view, after following Fine’s tumultuous political career, the only explanation appears to be that party operatives are playing a high-stake chess game in the weeks before Inauguration Day, and Fine’s well played role as a sycophantic opportunist finally paid off…    

Like many in Central Florida, I agree with Mr. Sabatini. 

In my view, Rep. Fine possesses the political instincts of a broke back snake – and the likeability of a flesh-eating bacterium. 

I typically steer clear of national politics in this space, but two years ago, a despicable story oozed out of Brevard County that reminded me of all the reasons I write this blog – the cathartic nature of venting my pickled spleen by pointing a jaundiced finger at ‘The Shit’ – comforted by the faint hope that my neighbors still believe some behavior should be universally reviled, even in the no-holds-barred slit-trench of modern politics.  

Simply put, citizens who see the importance of preserving the public’s trust in government should not abide bullying or abuse of position by those we elect to serve our interests – mighty politicians who use their vast power and position to intimidate and punish the defenseless – and don’t give two-shits about the collateral damage. 

Unfortunately, Mr. Fine wears those foul traits like a badge of honor.

In 2022, Central Floridians got a disturbing glimpse of his political flexing when the influential Rep. Fine was caught victimizing a Brevard County community after he felt snubbed by, of all things, his failure to receive an engraved invitation to a local fundraiser supporting Special Olympics in West Melbourne.

According to media reports, Rep. Fine got bent out of shape after the West Melbourne Police Department sent a blanket invitation to community leaders – including the Brevard County School Board – seeking participation in a “jail and bail” style fundraiser at an area fast-food restaurant – apparently neglecting to prostrate themselves and humbly beseech Mr. Fine to grace the event with his rotund presence.

What raised Rep. Fine’s wrath was that his long-time political nemesis, former Democratic Brevard School Board member Jennifer Jenkins, had agreed to participate…

Unforgiveable, right?

In a series of texts between Fine and his obsequious toady, West Melbourne City Commissioner John Dittmore – messages later published by media outlets – Rep. Fine threatened to withhold funding for Special Olympics (read that again) and a flood-mitigation project for citizens of West Melbourne… 

Over a perceived snub?

In April 2023, Florida’s neutered ethics apparatus found probable cause that Mr. Fine violated state ethics rules when he clearly appeared to threaten funding to the city of West Melbourne. 

According to a report by Florida Today, “Fine called the nonpartisan commission a “kangaroo court” and claimed its findings were politically motivated because the decision went against the recommendations of its investigator, whose staff recommended no probable cause.”

Most recently, earlier this year, a Brevard County judge held Fine in contempt of court after he was observed making obscene gestures, mouthing curse words, and wearing a campaign T-shirt during a video court hearing last summer.

According to an October 2024 report by Spectrum News 13:

“Screen shots of the hearing — which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Robert Burns challenging Fine’s inclusion in the race for the Brevard Republican Executive Committee — were included in an order compelling the state representative to explain his actions in court. In the images, Fine can be clearly seen wearing a campaign T-shirt, and multiple screen shots showed him holding up his middle finger in different positions and making an “L” with his fingers on at least three occasions.”

Ultimately, the Judge ordered Fine to complete an eight-hour anger management course.

Of course, this rather benign accountability for his abhorrent behavior during a judicial proceeding sparked the legendary Wrath of Fine – who went on to attack witnesses, made threats to file a complaint with the Florida Bar against the prosecuting attorney, and hurled accusations that the judge engaged in misconduct…

You know, the New Sacred Ethos of the modern politician: Admit nothing.  Deny everything. Make counteraccusations…   

In my view, none of us are without warts – and the partisan fish camps that hand-select malleable candidates and political meatgrinder that awaits potential servant/leaders is why so few otherwise qualified citizens seek elective service – which increasingly leaves us with the Gumby-like dregs who have lost the human capacity for shame… 

Perhaps President-elect Trump’s transition team should revisit the Fine endorsement, vet a capable and competent resident Republican of District 6, and give us long-suffering “Fun Coast” residents something other than another disparaging dilemma at the ballot box as we elect a replacement for the highly respected Mike Waltz in Congress.  

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, y’all!

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

On Volusia: The more things change, the more they stay the same…  

When it comes to the machinations of government, the subtleties speak volumes.

Those clever codes and dog whistles that the bureaucracy uses to signal what is important to the behind-the-scenes string pullers who actually set public policy – and what is not. 

Those who determine which issues advance and which wither on the vine.

For instance, in advance of this week’s Volusia County Council meeting, I perused the agenda – specifically, a proposed ordinance that will allow five-lot subdivisions in rural and agricultural areas that meet certain specifications without the need for council approval.  Essentially, the action will now permit “…the subdivision of properties that are obviously large enough to meet all code requirements and where minimal development of infrastructure is required.”

On the agenda sheet, the purpose for the proposed ordinance was listed as “Increase Efficiency and Effectiveness of Government Operations,” one of five loose-fitting “Strategic Goals” where ordinances, resolutions, and council actions are pigeonholed for political insulation.

Attached was a three-page summary prepared by Growth and Resource Mismanagement Director Clay Ervin, complete with supporting minutes from the Planning and Land Development Regulations Commission, along with a draft of the proposed ordinance for council review. 

All neatly wrapped up in a glossy package and presented to the Council with a bow on it… 

Ergo, the bureaucracy and its supporting cast on the dais want the ability to approve small subdivisions without bringing the matter before the Council – or the public.  (It passed unanimously…)

Then I turned to the most critical issue of our time – Item 4. 

Chairman Jeff Brower’s request for a mere discussion of a proposed temporary moratorium on future development until flood mitigation and sustainable growth management regulations can be set – an emergency stopgap brought forth during Brower’s recent reelection campaign to address the most galvanizing and destructive issue of our time.

Somehow, Mr. Brower’s request didn’t meet any of the county’s identified strategic goals, including what would appear to be the items intended purpose to “Support a Solution-Oriented Culture.”  (Sorry.  I just upchucked in my mouth a little…)

To signal the opposition, the planned discussion of the “M word” was summarized as, “Chairman Brower requested this agenda item by the attached email on Saturday, November 9, 2024.”

That’s it.

The only supporting material attached to the agenda was an email sent by Chairman Brower to County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald and County Attorney Michael Dyer, listing a series of “compelling arguments” and legal precedents detailing why Volusia County should consider a temporary moratorium in the face of recurrent widespread flooding:

“The suffering of our constituents and the increased danger to every resident and county property has made this complicated but important responsibility a priority for this council. I believe we can and will accept the challenge put before us by the recent devastating damage and loss of our constituent’s property and future. I thank you for your consideration and I believe the public expects us to act decisively, boldly, and thoughtfully.”

Later in the week, a letter from Chairman Brower seeking cooperation from area municipal governments was attached.   

What do you think County Manager Recktenwald ($259,041 annually, not including benefits) and his paralytic senior staff was communicating to decision makers? 

That’s why it wasn’t a surprise to anyone paying attention when, on cue, things worked out just as they had been scripted ahead of time. 

Before the agenda had been approved, Councilman David “No Show” Santiago set the stage for kicking that rusty can down the dusty political trail – moving to wait for a minimum of “60-days” before even discussing flooding, because “I don’t have enough information to make a decision,” Santiago said.

After Santiago and the other do-nothings on the dais expended a lot of hot air justifying why, after years of flooding and decades of strategic procrastination on adopting low impact development practices, they still need more time to even talk about the most devastating problem of our time?

Callously, the remainder of the Council unanimously agreed on a 6-0 vote (with Councilman Matt Reinhart absent) to a “special meeting” on January 14, 2025…  

It was another public castration of Chairman Brower – and a slap in the face to the overflow crowd of soggy residents who jammed both the main gallery and a holding room downstairs – to demand that their elected representatives take action to mitigate flooding in Volusia County.

During citizen participation, the elected officials sat stone-faced while countless constituents gave nearly three-hours of emotional testimony, openly pleading for action on development-induced flooding – interspersed with a few developers, real estate brokers, commercial construction companies, and “economic development” shills – who told flashlight under the chin scary stories about how even a temporary moratorium on future development would result in financial Armageddon for those in the trades…   

Bullshit. 

At present, there is enough rehabilitation work in Volusia County to keep a construction company in business for generations…

Per usual, in the end, the institutionalized status quo of stagnation and mediocrity prevailed. 

And those with a chip in the game got sixty more days to fill and build…

Between County Manager Recktenwald’s hypnotic monotone, the asinine finger pointing, the handwringing hypocrisy, timewasting spit/spats, and David Santiago’s stall tactics and name-calling, the devastating issue of regional flooding almost got lost in the bureaucratic ether. 

Just as “No Show” Santiago intended… 

Once again, the same tired names in the cloistered halls of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building who got us into this mess in the first place will be given even more money – then permitted to cover their previous mistakes and formulate a “solution” to get us out of it. 

While the bulldozers continue to roar.

The very definition of insanity.

Perhaps it is time for frustrated victims of Volusia County’s growth at all cost strategy to demand federal and state agencies with the responsibility for protecting the public trust investigate the myriad allegations, whispered suspicions, and murky alliances at all levels of government that have resulted in this malicious foot-dragging on a clear and present danger to public health and safety? 

I’m asking. 

Because this choreographed strategic procrastination in the face of such widespread human suffering is obscene.

Whispering Sweet Nothings = Big Embarrassment for Volusia County Council

“Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too.”

–Luke 16:10

Recently, reporter Sheldon Gardner published an important article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal blowing the whistle on a controversial but all too frequent practice: Off-the-record conversations between Volusia County Council members during public meetings.

In my view, Gardner’s excellent exposé left our embarrassed elected representatives scrambling to clarify if they are surreptitiously discussing official business in direct violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law – or just aloof, detached, and condescendingly inattentive to the ‘people’s business’ – safe in the knowledge that the decisions have already been made behind closed doors? 

Is there another explanation? 

For instance, during a Volusia County Council meeting earlier this year, a resident of Port Orange attempted to address her representatives regarding the noise and flooding many believe will accompany Councilman Don Dempsey’s proposed publicly funded motocross track – something that remains an issue of grave public concern – and residents want their voices heard.

As she spoke, the all-to-clubby Councilmen Danny “Gaslight” Robins and “Jake the Snake” Johansson struck up a private conversation in the middle of her appeal – arrogantly ignoring a citizen’s input – while chatting it up about who knows what off the microphone.

To her credit, the concerned resident paused and politely asked if she were interrupting before continuing with her presentation.   

A telling moment… 

According to the News-Journal’s report, “At the council meeting on Sept. 17, multiple councilmen spoke with each other off the microphone. District 4 Councilman Vice Chair Troy Kent and District 1 Councilman Don Dempsey engaged in a conversation that no one could hear.”

“It’s a common scenario at Volusia County Council meetings. Councilmen regularly make off-the-microphone comments to one another during meetings that no one can hear in the meeting room or on the recordings posted online. While councilmen assert they’re not talking about public business, an official with the Florida Center for Government Accountability said off-the-microphone comments shouldn’t happen either way.”

In Florida, public meetings must be open and accessible to everyone. 

In fact, state law holds that elected officials who discuss business that may come before them outside of a duly noticed public meeting can face a noncriminal infraction with a fine of up to $500 – or “a misdemeanor charge that could come with jail time, a fine, or both.”

Per usual, those council members who have been caught whispering sweet nothings now attempt to marginalize and dismiss the valid concerns of their constituents: 

“It’s small talk like, ‘How’s your family?'” Dempsey said.

Johansson said he might ask Robins to pass him a piece of candy or something trivial like that.

“What time’s dinner? What are you doing tomorrow morning?” Johansson said.

You know, just your typical backslappin’ ‘good ‘ol boy’ banter among buddies…  

“Robins said he doesn’t discuss any public business with other councilmen off the microphones.

“If I do talk to another council person up there, it is above board,” he said.

District 5 Councilman David Santiago described the off-the-mic chatter as “normal casual conversations” that never drift into policy.

“People are going to assume you’re doing something wrong. It’s probably sometimes because it’s what they would do,” Santiago said.

District 2 Councilman Matt Reinhart described the chats as discussions of everyday life, like Robins’ fishing trips, but nothing policy-related.

“First off, I know better,” Reinhart said.

Kent said that sometimes during the hours long meetings, a councilman may ask about his personal life or vice versa.”

Bullshit.  Talk fishing on your own damn time…        

Perhaps Councilman “No Show” Santiago should understand that We, The Little People naturally “assume” his off-the-record conversations are out-of-bounds – because they are – and his cheap counteraccusations only raise more questions about his skeevy practices both on and off the dais…  

It’s called “character” Mr. Santiago.  Look that concept up in your County Council Handbook.    

For his part, Chairman Jeff Brower told the News-Journal he plans to police the meetings closer in the future.  “I really don’t want a circus on the Council. I’m really going to start just politely calling it out and letting them know anything that is said is public comment, so they need to share it with everybody,” he said.”

To his credit, none of his chatty “colleagues” on the dais of power speak to Mr. Brower.  About anything. The sad fact is, Brower has been frozen out of the Ivory Tower of Power so hard he should be wearing an arctic parka…

Find the News-Journal’s informative piece here: https://tinyurl.com/mwm69cs2

Another concerning aspect of Volusia County’s “trust issue” was brought to my attention earlier this week when a Barker’s View reader wrote to ask if I knew why county government has failed to post council meeting minutes since June? 

Good question…

More important, the concerned citizen wanted to know why, after repeated attempts to communicate with her council members, none of our elected officials have bothered to respond to a taxpayer’s legitimate question? 

What gives?

Perhaps the resident is being blatantly ignored because she didn’t throw enough money around during election cycles?

On Tuesday, the Council voted to approve minutes from May 7, 2024, July 16, 2024, a July 23, 2024, Workshop, and the August 20, 2024, September 17, 2024, meetings. 

With a record budget now topping $1.6 Billion (you read that right), one would think someone inside that monstrously bloated, uncaring, and unwieldy machine could compile and post meeting minutes in a timely manner…

In the meantime, John & Jane Q. can wait to research issues and actions important to their lives and livelihoods until it’s convenient to the bureaucracy.

Then, just after midnight Wednesday morning, in another of example of an off-the-agenda public policy by ambush – the Volusia County Council voted 6-0 (with Reinhart absent) to limit their meetings to six hours, further pushing important issues down the dusty political trail and ensuring our elected representatives don’t exhaust themselves bumping their gums, obfuscating the issues, and avoiding the very real needs of Volusia County residents.

Of course, they forgot to vote on a corresponding reduction in their $48,926 annual stipend for a part-time job now limited to 12-hours each month (not including the all-important dinner break) …

I don’t make this shit up, folks.      

In my jaded view, these serious issues serve as another ugly example of the hubris and political arrogance that permeates every aspect of Volusia County government – from the top down.

The rules are for We, The Little People.  Nothing to see here, folks.  Keep moving…

In my view, these recurring public integrity questions, gross government inefficiency, and recurrent transparency issues highlight the “We do what we want, when we want” culture that exists whenever unbridled power and a sense of infallibility lead those in public office to believe the rules no longer applies to them in matters large and small.   

Quote of the Week

“Heated debates erupted at a Volusia County Council meeting Tuesday as residents demanded action on a proposed moratorium on new construction, aimed at addressing widespread flooding issues caused by recent hurricanes. 

Hundreds packed the meeting, frustrated by the council’s decision to delay a vote. The board opted to push the matter to a special meeting within the next 60 days, a move that drew boos, interruptions, and impassioned pleas from attendees. 

“You’d have to be deaf and dumb not to see how people are suffering,” one resident said during the meeting. “We know what you’re doing — you’re trying to get around it.” 

Many residents still displaced by Hurricane Milton shared their struggles. Pam Teator, holding back tears, pleaded for empathy. 

“As you go home today and prepare to sleep in your bed, please think of those of us who can’t do that,” she said. “As you prepare for the upcoming holiday, and you gather around your table at Thanksgiving, please think of those who can’t do that.” 

Others took a more direct approach. Allison Reaves of DeLand criticized the council for what he called a lack of response. 

“We have a flooding nightmare. All these people are hurting,” Reaves said. 

Tensions flared not only among residents but also between council members themselves. Heated exchanges included accusations of dishonesty and inaction.”

–Fox 35 News, “Volusia County residents weary from flooding clash with council over construction moratorium,” Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Volusia County flood victims are beginning to realize the depth to which those elected marionettes on the dais of power in DeLand will go to protect the very lucrative profit motives of those in the development community who fund their rise to power each election.

After that insult to all that is right and just on Tuesday, it should now be painfully obvious to Volusia County taxpayers exactly who controls the rods and strings of those well-choreographed puppet shows they stage twice a month (now limited to just six-hours…), which serve mainly to spend money, ram through zoning changes, defer impact fees, and rubber stamp more development.  

Most disappointing, Chairman Jeff Brower, who was recently returned to office with a citizen mandate to ramrod change on that ossified dais – continues to vote in lockstep with the very shills and obstructionists who tried their damndest to end his political career earlier this month.

So much for all that taking off the gloves, horseshit, eh? 

In my view, Brower should have opened this week’s charade by calling for the resignations of County Manager George Recktenwald, Director of Growth and Resource Mismanagement Clay Ervin, and Public Works Director Ben Bartlett.

That’s taking the gloves off – and a damn good start to solving the historical and intractable development-induced problems we face…  

In the words of the great Father Phil Egitto, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Daytona Beach, who spoke to the Volusia County Council on Tuesday, “Nothing changes, if nothing changes…”

And Another Thing!

As a veteran watcher of politics and governance here on this salty spit of land we call home, I understand better than most what our democratic process has devolved into.    

For instance, political campaigns for non-partisan Volusia County Council seats have for years been dominated by massive campaign contributions from influential insiders and skewed by blatant falsehoods printed on “glossy mailers” that are paid for with mysterious “dark money” that originates from equally enigmatic political action committees.

Even staunch Republicans have been left reeling by the shim-sham schemes of the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia and its dictatorial leadership who continue to engage in pay-to-play politics, endorsing anyone their uber-wealthy overseers tell them to support…  

Through habituation, I’ve become hardened by what passes for politics in Volusia County.   

After a lifetime spent in municipal government, with time and repetitive insult, I’ve developed a thick callous on my psyche that protects my fragile sanity from the hype and horseshit of the campaign cycle.   

That said, I must admit, the postelection kabuki performed by petty politicians (or their proxies) who attempt to rewrite history and paint themselves as victims still bothers me.  Because it is disingenuous and self-serving – caustic bilge that erodes the public trust.   

For instance, last week, Volusia County Councilman Matt Reinhart’s wife – who bills herself as a behind-the-scenes master of all political trades, “…Matt’s campaign manager, campaign treasurer, and responsible for his social media posts, and website,” published a diatribe on the popular social media site Volusia Issues decrying the “falsehoods,” “untruths,” “hostility,” and “slander” her delicate husband and “other candidates” were forced to endure during his recent reelection campaign.   

Mrs. Reinhart mewled, in part:

“The recent election was marred by numerous falsehoods presented as facts, particularly regarding “donations” from a candidate running for office. There was rhetoric suggesting that the council answers to donors rather than residents, along with other forms of misinformation that quickly spread on social media and at polling stations.

Due to Matt’s election, I stayed away from all political commentary and even the untruths that were spread about him and other candidates.

I cannot tell you how many falsehoods and fabricated stories I read about my husband and other candidates.

While people are entitled to their opinions, remember these candidates have families that love them, and it is painful to read the lies and the character assignation of your spouse or family member.”

Most shocking was the fact Mrs. Reinhart saw fit to post her spleen-venting harangue under numerous pictures of her family, children, and grandchildren (?). 

In doing so, she broke the cardinal rule of never parading family into the shit-pit of politics in some cheap attempt to garner sympathy – especially for a powerful elected official who accepts public funds to serve in the public interest – yet apparently can’t stand the heat of public scrutiny and righteous criticism come election time.  

In my view, the real reason for Mrs. Reinhart’s screed was to clean up that quid pro quo soiree that is the RECV’s annual Lincoln Dinner.

During the election, many longtime Volusia County Republicans were rightfully repulsed when they learned County Chair candidate “Car Guy” Randy Dye made an after-the-fact $5,000 donation to the RECV (ostensibly payable to the Lincoln Dinner) – then saw his name placed on the “Official Republican Voter Guide” – while Chairman Jeff Brower (also a Republican) was conspicuously omitted – even though he carried the August primary…

As questions of impropriety swirled, civic activist Cathrine Pante perfectly summarized the suspicions of many voters in a well-researched piece on the popular social media site Protect Volusia:  

“Exactly 8 days after the August 20th Primary, In which Jeff Brower captured 42% of the vote and Randy Dye 28 % in a four way race.  Randy Dye made a $5000 dollar donation, to the REC.  After this donation, The REC used Rule 8 in a sham vote to sideline Jeff Brower and keep him off the voter guide which is mailed to all Republicans and passed out at the polls.”

It just so happens that Mrs. Reinhart was the “Co-Chair for the 2024 Lincoln Dinner in Volusia County…”

Yeah.  I know.  In Volusia County, it helps to be a member of the inner circle…

In Simonizing the facts, Mrs. Reinhart wrote, in part:

“Sponsors of the Lincoln Dinner can buy tables ranging in price from $3,000 to $10,000. Their sponsorship includes complimentary valet parking, acknowledgment in the program, access to a Sponsor/VIP reception with an open bar and appetizers, and dinner accompanied by guest speakers.

VIP and dinner tickets are available for purchase. Most guests opt to pay in advance of the dinner, while some sponsors and a few guests choose to pay post-event. Payments are made via checks sent through mail, addressed to RECVC.

The candidate in question sponsored a table and paid after the event in late August. There was no nefarious activity that went on behind the scenes.”

Says who? 

In addition, Councilman Reinhart took criticism after accepting campaign donations from influential insiders – ultimately accumulating a war chest over $118,000 – more than twice that of his largely self-funded grassroot opponent.

In an informative article by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal before the election we learned:

“Reinhart’s top donors include businesses associated with developer Mori Hosseini, Cici and Hyatt Brown, of Brown and Brown Insurance, and associated entities and businesses; and entities related to the Avalon Park development and its officials.

Avalon Park Daytona Beach is expected to add 7,878 homes and a million square feet of commercial space on the south side of State Road 40/West Granada Boulevard, about a mile west of Interstate 95. As of January, the developers still needed to resolve concerns over traffic and wetlands, among other issues.

Reinhart defends the donations.

“These are individuals that reach out to me that are not looking for favors. They’re looking for good government,” he said.”

Of course they are…

Either Mrs. Reinhart is a sore winner, or she needs to learn something about ‘selling past the close…’

In my view, as a political operative, Mrs. Reinhart should understand that long-suffering Volusia County residents continue to deal with the fallout of a lack of representation and her husband’s staunch defense of the stagnant status quo.

That includes the unchecked sprawl, lack of preparedness and infrastructure to manage the massive growth to come, refusing to demand that developers to pay their fair share, and the cowardly inability of the Volusia County Council to reign in what residents perceive as the backroom collusions and return on investment that brought us to this sad, desperate, and increasingly waterlogged place in our history.

I don’t know about you, but as a Volusia County taxpayer – I want to hear directly from my elected representative on social media and websites – not from his doting ghostwriter, Mrs. Reinhart. 

She hasn’t been elected to anything…  

In my view, this pathetic shrinking violet act – wallowing in butthurt self-pity after winning a relatively benign campaign – paints the already weak Councilman Reinhart as even more ineffectual than his performance proves, as he dutifully fulfills his minor supporting role of voting in lockstep conformity with his fellow marionettes. 

Not a good look…

Grow some bark, Councilman Reinhart.

Seeking sympathy while your constituents are suffering is poor optics.  Your campaign manager should understand that.

To those much is given, much is expected – and your constituents are now demanding answers to the tough questions.  They need comprehensive solutions to the serious problems that are destroying their property values and quality of life this time around – and more obstructionism and procrastination is immoral and unacceptable.   

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, y’all!   

_______________

In keeping with tradition, Barker’s View will take a break next week as we join with family and friends to celebrate the Thanksgiving – a time to reflect and give grateful appreciation for all the wonderful gifts in our lives.

The friendship and loyalty of Barker’s View readers is a great blessing for me – and whether we agree or disagree on the issues of the day – I thank you for taking the time to read and consider an alternative opinion.  

My sincere hope is that you and yours enjoy all the bounty and blessings of this Joyous Season!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

The City of Edgewater Sets a Bold Example

In my recent autopsy of our local election results, I took some criticism for voicing the view that Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower’s victory represents a “mandate” for direct action on those environmental and growth issues he championed during his tumultuous first term.   

A reader suggested that my “…use of the word “mandate” in connection with a county-wide election having a margin of about 7,000 votes (about a percentage point) is ill-advised. More accurately, that’s a “squeaker.”

Although I hate explaining myself, the fact is, Mr. Brower’s grassroots campaign was outspent (4:1), he was openly maligned by his elected “colleagues” on the dais (who beat Brower like a borrowed mule at the bidding of their well-heeled overseers), he was falsely accused in a mysteriously funded glossy mailer of mollycoddling sex offenders, while his opponent received the ringing endorsement of all the right last names and the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia ran interference – yet, he still emerged victorious on a platform focused on smart growth initiatives.

So, I’ll stick to my original assessment… 

In my view, given all the internal and external obstacles he overcame, Brower’s win represents a clear citizen mandate for addressing the impacts of malignant growth on existing residents, infrastructure, and public utilities.

As evidence of that, just days before the election, Chairman Brower appeared on the steps of the Volusia County Courthouse in Daytona Beach flanked by flood victims to call for a temporary moratorium on development until a flood mitigation plan can be reached.

The angry response from development shills like District 3 Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins, At-Large Representative “Jake the Snake” Johansson, and Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry was telling – and demonstrated just how far some compromised politicians will go to kiss the sizeable asses of their political benefactors – always to the detriment of their waterlogged constituents.

Now, some observers are suggesting that the meanspirited kabuki staged by Robins and Johansson in the face of devastated flood victims represents what’s to come in Brower’s second term – others believe it signaled the exact second Jake and Danny’s political careers ended…

To prove the urgency many elected representatives across the region are giving the problem, last week the Edgewater City Council held a workshop to discuss two proposed moratoriums – a temporary pause to give them time to address flooding in the heavily affected community.

One would limit residential development citywide with exceptions for commercial development and Hurricane Milton repairs.  The other would place a hold on the issuance of building permits that may “increase impervious surfaces” in the Florida Shores Drainage Basin.

According to an informative piece by reporter Brenno Carillo writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the Florida Shores moratorium “…would stop “consideration of building permits that would increase impervious surface area, such as, but not limited to, new single-family homes, additions, detached garages, sheds, pools, driveways, patios on any parcel within the Florida Shores Drainage Basin” area, according to the presentation.”

In addition, “The other moratorium would be citywide and imposed “on the consideration of annexations, rezonings, comprehensive plan amendments, site plans, preliminary plats and final plats,” according to Solstice.

The measure would only affect residential developments, not commercial or industrial projects.”

To his credit, Edgewater’s man-child Mayor Deizel Depew said he “cannot in good faith” approve more development until a comprehensive stormwater masterplan is in place.  

“I’ve lived in Florida Shores my whole, entire life,” DePew, 20, said. “We don’t know where our current watershed is going, we have several developments that have come on board since 2014. (The stormwater masterplan) needs to be updated as fast as can be.”

In my view, if Edgewater can see the dire need to tap the brakes while they evaluate changes to how and where they develop in the face of recurrent flooding, why can’t Volusia County take the lead on controlling fill and build development practices, improve stormwater management, and work cooperatively with the municipalities to find answers?   

That’s rhetorical… 

In my view, the glaringly obvious answer is the voracious greed of a real estate development industry that owns the political souls of the majority of the Volusia County Council – most of whom are bought and paid for marionettes with inherently corrupt instincts and an egoistic need to be considered part of the “in-crowd” – dull tools who dutifully serve their master’s to the detriment of those of us who are expected to pay the bills and suffer in silence. 

According to reports, Edgewater officials will hold a townhall meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, November 18, at the Bella Vista Baptist Church, 3232 South Ridgewood Avenue. 

Residents will be provided additional information on flood mitigation efforts and have an opportunity to ask questions.  In my view, if Edgewater officials hold the course and use lessons learned to form best practices, this dynamic community-oriented approach could be a blueprint for how Florida governments ultimately address development induced flooding.

DIY Engineering in Palm Coast?

Unlike the City of Edgewater, it appears Palm Coast officials are opting to deal with development induced and infill flooding by not dealing with it… 

Sound familiar?

When angry homeowners stormed Palm Coast City Hall last fall demanding answers to a flawed drainage system that allows runoff from new development and infill projects to flood adjoining properties, a temporary moratorium proposed by City Council member Theresa Pontieri was quickly nixed by the shortsighted majority. 

Instead, the city’s building and stormwater departments tweaked language in a “technical manual” that (finally) placed responsible height limits – no more than 22 inches above the crown of the road or more than a 10-inch height difference between the floor elevation of neighboring homes – on future growth. 

But what about waterlogged existing Palm Coast residents?

Well, dust off your civil engineering degrees, folks… 

Unbelievably, City officials – in cooperation with something called the Residential Drainage Advisory Committee – will now offer homeowners five cubic yards of city owned “surplus dirt” to use as they see fit to control stormwater runoff flowing from adjacent lots.

You read that right.

According to city press release, “It’s important to note that drainage fixes are not one-size-fits-all. Each property has unique needs, and some projects may require additional steps. If machinery is used to spread the dirt on the premises, homeowners will need to obtain a grading permit issued by the City of Palm Coast. The permit ensures compliance with local regulations and helps maintain proper drainage functionality.”

A grading permit will set resident’s back $82 bucks.

To fix a problem the City of Palm Coast created?

Whatever…

Because the City of Palm Coast cannot legally use public funds for private benefit, to keep things on the up-and-up, the “surplus” dirt will be available to all taxpaying residents of Palm Coast – not just those experiencing flooding. 

According to the release, the program has been assisted by a local surveyor who conducted surveys of 29 residential properties to help identify areas in “need of improvement.”

What could go wrong?

During a meeting earlier this week, bewildered Palm Coast residents voiced their logical concerns. 

According to an article in the Ormond Beach Observer:

“I’m telling you right now, this is not going to work,” resident Celia Pugliese said.

P Section resident Jeremy Davis has been one of the council’s most vocal critics on how the council and city has responded to residents’ drainage issues. He has told his story multiple times: a house was built in the empty lot next to his at a much higher height and since then, he said he has had water coming on to his property and even in his home that was never there before.

Davis called the 5 cubic yards offered “hilarious.”

“That’s not going to help me,” Davis said. “This is a waste of my time.”

Davis said it would be equally unfair for residents like himself to be required to pay for a permit to fix a problem caused by city staff and builders approving a home built higher than existing homes.

“Come up with real solutions,” Davis said.”

I agree with incredulous Palm Coast residents – but bureaucrats know that real problem solving can get expensive and time-consuming – while kicking the can down the dusty political trail costs nothing…

So, it appears the City of Palm Coast is opting to permit shade tree hydrological engineers to develop a hodgepodge of drainage “fixes” – 29 competing solutions, each designed to manage flooding on individual parcels – without ever addressing the mercurial problem of stormwater management.   

Look, there’s a reason doctors suggest you don’t remove your own inflamed appendix – or perform a root canal on that touchy molar – because those procedures are better left to trained professionals. Educated, experienced, and credentialed experts who can diagnose the problem holistically, find a solution, and develop a comprehensive treatment plan without doing more harm in the process.

In my view, like the remainder of Florida, the massive municipality of Palm Coast has been set upon by elected development shills who weaseled their way onto the dais of power and took full advantage of the shambolic dysfunction that permeates the City Council to foment more, more, more malignant growth and willy-nilly residential infill without any viable plan or smart growth regulations.

Now it is time for cities and counties who have adopted growth at all cost development strategies to be held legally and politically liable for permitting what they knew or should have known would have catastrophic impacts on existing residents.

In my view, that level of officially sanctioned negligence should be criminal…

Quote of the Week

“Several residents who live near the future development spoke before the board at its meeting on existing flooding issues, and voiced concerns that the development of Ormond Crossings will worsen conditions.

“It floods even if you do not have a hurricane, very, very badly,” Ormond Beach resident Jordan Huntley said.

Resident Darrel Bugno said he’s lived in his home in Durrance Lane for over 25 years and has experienced water in front of his driveway over 3-and-a-half feet deep.

“It happened last year,” he said. “It happened this year. And what’s going to happen next year? If this goes in, the people who have houses out there are all going to flood out. Water came within 10 feet of my house.”

On behalf of Ormond Crossings’ developer, representative Jamie Poulos said that as the development moves forward in more detail, a master stormwater plan will be created, to be reviewed by the city, the county St. Johns River Water Management District and FEMA.”

–Jarleene Almenas, Ormond Beach Observer, “Ormond Crossings amendment gets OK by Ormond Beach Planning Board,” Wednesday, October 30, 2024  

In the hubbub of the election, the first amendment to the slumbering behemoth known as Ormond Crossings escaped mention. 

For the uninitiated, the 3,000-acre project dates to 2002 when Ormond Beach was a much different place and will span the east and west side of I-95 and areas south of US-1, blanketing areas of Volusia and Flagler counties with 2,950 residential units and some 2.5 million square feet of retail, office, light industrial and warehouse space.

According to the Ormond Observer, last month, the Ormond Beach planning board voted to approve a request from the developer of Ormond Crossings to allow single-family homes in place of multifamily units in a portion of the property south of U.S. 1.

“Why the change from multifamily to single-family? Poulos said it’s because of the wetlands.

“We’re trying to minimize wetland impacts,” he said.”

Sure they are… 

I found it disturbing that while plans are moving swiftly through the approval process, the developer has yet to produce a master stormwater plan detailing how they will mitigate flooding concerns – especially now that longtime area residents have made it clear the area is already susceptible – going on record that the thousands of residential units proposed for Ormond Crossings will only exacerbate the problem. 

This one’s important.  Because if they get it wrong, our grandchildren will pay the price…

My hope is that Ormond Beach’s new Mayor Jason Leslie will provide the strong leadership necessary to address how development amendments are considered (let alone approved) without so much as a comprehensive stormwater plan in place – all while the experiential concerns of frightened existing residents are glossed over by some developer’s mouthpiece with a chip in the game.   

And Another Thing!

On Monday, I watched as the Deltona City Commission interrupted Veteran’s Day observances to hold a special meeting during which the solemn oath of office was administered to four newly elected members.    

A heady celebration of what many long-suffering resident’s hope foretells new beginnings, rather than more of the same…  

Time will tell. 

As I watched the transfer of power in the Lost City of Deltona – the typical ceremonial pomp, with the freshman commission members preening and posing for photographs with their proud families – I thought it fortunate that attendees were spared the acrimony many feared when former Commissioner “Jody Lee” ominously threatened to “name names” regarding what he described as “election interference” and issues with charter officers in a post-election interview with the West Volusia Beacon.  

In fact, neither “Jody Lee” or former Commissioner Dana McCool attended the special meeting…

Which was disappointing. 

But hard feelings run deep in politics – especially in Wild West Volusia… 

The last thing the longsuffering residents of Deltona need is more posturing and melodrama from the dais of power – and regardless of the venom and rancor of the campaign season – continuity of governance and confidence in our sacred democratic process demand an orderly transition. 

Unfortunately, despite the hopes of a new majority, Deltona’s external interests and influences were palpable in the Commission Chambers – like worms in the wood that forms the very structure of governance in that troubled place – entrenched, damaging, and hard to see from the outside looking in.

But on Monday, hope reigned supreme for long-suffering residents desperate for a way forward.

Those necessary changes begin with strong leadership. 

An end to bullying, obstructionism, and playing the martyred victim – more honest dialog, transparency, and attention to the real needs of those who pay the bills – less deference to influential special interests.    

My stock in trade is poking fun and making snide observations on the abject absurdity inherent to local politics – a jaundiced look at the weird machinations of governance here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” – my take on the interesting characters both in front and behind the curtain who manipulate the rods and strings.

In retirement, offering unsolicited advice, criticizing those actually in the arena, and pointing out where the strongman stumbled has become a guilty pleasure of mine.  After a lifetime in public service, these often-caustic screeds are cathartic – an ipecac of sorts – a creative outlet that helps purge my craw of the issues of the day…

The fact is, during a lengthy career in municipal government, I learned a few things about the importance of local governance and the delivery of essential services, including the actual role of elected officials in how the sausage gets made and the significance of accountability, accessibility, transparency, and trust.     

I originally posted a version of these maxims following the hotly contested elections of 2020, sort of an “Idiot’s Guide to local Governance” from an uneducated rube who clawed his way to middle management and hung on by my fingernails… 

In my view, these lessons remain relevant for newly elected officials, and a reminder for those incumbents who continue to wield power from their respective dais of power.   

During the campaign season, I took in the pie-in-the-sky goals of some of our newly elected officials who are about to experience their first sweet taste of power and influence in the microcosm of a local or regional government – where the haughty trappings of office and the obsequious fawning of their “new friends” with ulterior motives can be more intoxicating than 101 proof bourbon.

Meeting those highfalutin goals won’t be easy for most – and downright impossible for some – especially in places like the gilded Volusia County Council chamber where Chairman Jeff Brower learned a few things during his first term about what happens to campaign promises and legislative effectiveness when a square peg refuses to be forced into the round hole of conformity…

During my productive life, I once heard a story from a newly minted city commissioner who was invited to a congratulatory dinner by a prominent real estate developer.  The incredibly impressed neophyte politician – a service industry worker by trade – was over the moon with newfound hubris when the wealthy businessman paid for his dinner and drinks with a flashy “Black” American Express Centurion card.

It was an effective prop, of course.  The trappings of success.    

A physical reminder of all the fine things money and power can bring, and I thought how easily alliances are changed, ethics compromised, and campaign promises ignored when the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker enter this heady new world – a place where they are finally treated like “equals” by people who wouldn’t have given them the time of day before the election – a slippery slope where wide-eyed novice politicians are told anything is possible with the right application of the people’s money. 

An ultimately cruel and unforgiving place where the losers are immediately forgotten, like so much worthless rubbish when they no longer hold value for those once ingratiating “friends” who stand at the nexus of public funds and private profit motives.

Nobody said public service would be easy.  If someone did, they lied to you.   

Trust me – you’re going to hear a lot of artful avarice and misrepresentations during your term. 

If I were to purchase a gift for newly elected politicians preparing to take their seat it would be a simple hand mirror.

When the time comes – and it will – when the crown lays heavy and the feeling of infallibility overcomes the willingness to listen, when neighbors are screaming for their head, and chippie critics like me are bitching about how they screwed up the difficult calls, when compromising their personal ethics would be the easiest course, or when special interests who contributed to their campaign lobby hard for a controversial vote – they could use that mirror to take an introspective look at themselves and remember all the reasons why they sought to serve in the first place. 

To those ascending or returning to high office, here are some things I learned after a long public life that may help once the euphoria of the “big win” and self-aggrandizing celebrations have ended. 

Consider it the last gift you’ll receive with no strings attached:

Those rubber-chicken dinners – elegant “galas” with haughty elbow rubbing, ego massaging speeches, and silly plaques are not important.  Coffee with a concerned constituent is.

All people really want is to be heard.

Pay attention to those who pay the bills.  Make a place at the table for your constituents, hear them out, respect their hard-earned opinions, fight for their right to participate in a meaningful way, then incorporate their suggestions into the decision-making process.

Humility, and a true willingness to admit honest mistakes – then working hard to correct them – is omnipotent to winning and keeping the public’s trust.  Never forget that people can forgive those errors and omissions they see themselves making.

Your constituents – your neighbors – understand that you are human, but they expect and deserve a commitment to the ultimate in ethical, moral, and honorable behavior that respects human dignity, obeys the rule of law, and brings honor to public service. 

That means keeping your public and private life unsullied as an example to all.

(Read that again.)

Citizens also demand that their elected representatives hold themselves and others in positions of power accountable for their actions. 

Anything less weakens the system.

As hard as it may seem at the time, effective servant-leaders use the withering criticism they receive as a barometer of community sentiment.  The loudest person in the room is not always right. 

They aren’t always wrong either.  

You can always tell when an elected official has gotten their feelings hurt when they drone on from the dais, sugarcoating their “service” and “accomplishments,” rewriting recorded history, marginalizing their detractors, and labeling critics “liars” – all while heaping accolades on senior staff members who sooth their ego by telling them exactly what they want to hear.

That sense of elitism springs organically in the cloistered Halls of Power…

When making decisions on development and zoning amendments, consider our fragile environment and water source. That’s not the popular approach with the “Rich & Powerful,” but protecting wildlife and greenspace should be nonnegotiable.

I encourage you to support those career civil servants who do the heavy lifting and deliver essential services to the community.  Listen to their suggestions and never use them as pawns or scapegoats for political expediency.

They were here when you came, and they will remain when you leave…

Demand exacting standards of excellence from the city/county manager – he or she holds more cards than any one elected official – and they are the gatekeeper to the information you need to make an informed decision. 

Give the executive the courtesy of frequent, fair, and objective performance reviews – criticize privately and praise the team’s effort publicly – so the manager always knows where they stand, what you expect, and how they can improve.

These professionals earn a lot of money and perquisites because they understand the responsibilities and volatility inherent to managing a machine with a lot of moving parts that is fueled by public funds.  

Should the time come, never hesitate to change tack, and bring new vision and leadership to the team.  In my experience, holding onto bad managers for the sake of short-term “stability” is the leading cause of governmental dysfunction – civic damage that can be extremely expensive to repair.

Most important – in public service, moral courage is defined as the mental and ethical strength that sees us through challenges and ensures we do the right thing – despite the potential personal or political cost.

Lead by personal example as you make the tough decisions that impact the lives and livelihoods of those you serve. 

Find that moral courage – hold firm to your sacred oath of office and core values – and take pride in the fact your neighbors have put their confidence in your ability to lead, to work collaboratively, and your vision for our collective future.

Lastly, remain humble, never lose sight of the impermanence of power and position.

“All glory is fleeting…”

That’s all for me.  Enjoy a great weekend, y’all!

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

Decision 2024

“All power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people. That government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people, which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty and the right of acquiring property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purpose of its institution.”

–James Madison

I’m not one to gloat or pout in the aftermath of an election.

“Magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat” I say.   

Whether you agree with the outcome or not, the American people have spoken with their sacred vote – and our democracy worked as well as it can in 2024. The will of the people.  A peaceful transition of power.   

Some of the candidates and amendments I voted for won, others lost.  That’s what makes a horserace – and a government in this representative democracy…   

There was a time when we accepted the results of elections, coalesced as a nation and community, respected diverse opinions, worked toward a common goal, and moved forward with a clear understanding of the will and direction sought by the majority of voters. 

Not anymore. 

But at this pivotal moment, I believe how we as neighbors work out the serious issues facing our nation and community will define us – and the unblinking eye of history is watching…   

As loyal readers of these screeds know, I focus on the local issues important to your family and mine, and I was elated to see the biggest race on the local stage go to incumbent Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower in his epic fight against “Car Guy” Randy Dye. 

In my view, while Mr. Dye – a gentleman with a long history of civic and charitable involvement – may have gotten into the race with the best intentions, he was quickly used by Volusia’s stodgy “Old Guard” who saw him as their best hope for achieving lockstep conformity on the horribly compromised County Council.

As the race progressed, Mr. Dye seemed to embrace that role – even when he was being trotted out like a show horse by sitting Councilmen Danny Robins and Jake Johansson to publicly pooh-pooh the very real concerns of Volusia County flood victims – an ugly and callous scene that unfolded on the steps of a courthouse in Daytona Beach that painted Mr. Dye as just another dull tool of influential development interests… 

Not a good look – and something many believe will be remembered into 2026…     

Per usual, those stalwarts of the status quo pulled out all the stops, with the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia going as far as using some weird parliamentary shenanigans to intentionally block Brower from the infamous “Official Republican Voter Guide,” even after he carried the primary.

Something that left many local Republicans suggesting that Brower’s win on Tuesday represents the last time the tyrannical RECV Chair Paul Deering and Co. will manipulate an election…   

In addition, Tuesday saw a refreshing changing of the guard on the Volusia County School Board as perennial politician Carl Persis lost big to newcomer Donna Brosemer in District 4; while the impressive businesswoman and entrepreneur Krista Goodrich took the District 2 race.

The other half of Volusia’s former ‘power couple,’ Susan Persis, lost to freshman politician Jason Leslie – a virtual unknown in the cloistered world of Ormond Beach politics, where one’s pedigree seemed to command more respect than vision, leadership, or strategic thought.

Not anymore. 

Congratulations to Mayor-elect Leslie on doing what many thought was impossible – wrenching the reins of power from the entrenched influential insiders Ms. Persis represented… 

Over in Wild West Volusia, things took a distinctive turn on the Lost City of Deltona’s dais – where James “Nick” Lulli defeated incumbent Commissioner Jody Lee Storozuk in a nasty District 6 race – with Dori Howington defeating incumbent Commissioner Dana McCool in District 4.

In District 1, the intrepid Deltona civic activist Brandy Lee White lost to Davison Heriot.  I hope Ms. White continues to bring the heat to the Deltona City Commission.  She is more influential speaking her truth from the podium than if she had been taken into the confines of elective service.   

According to whispers I’ve received here at Barker’s View HQ this week, in coming hours/days Deltona residents are about to get hit with yet another fusillade of disturbing allegations and insinuations emanating from City Hall…not what Deltona needs now. 

To add insult, according to a report by the West Volusia Beacon, the now lame duck Commissioner “Jody Lee” plans to hold a special commission meeting to “…discuss two items. I want to talk about charter officers, and I want to talk about election interference in Deltona. People are not going to like what I have to say.”

“Storozuk said he plans “to name names” and give details about his allegations.

As for his loss at the polls, Storozuk decried the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee for refusing to endorse him over Lulli. Municipal elections are officially nonpartisan races, but the parties do usually support or oppose candidates for these local offices.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same…

Some Deltona residents I’ve heard from are concerned their “new” commission was tailored by powerful Volusia County political and special interests to accommodate the wants and whims of developers.  That’s disturbing. 

And therein lies the problem.  

Call it post-election fatigue – and I hate to sound blasé amid the post-election euphoria many Volusia County residents are feeling – but regardless of who “won” or “lost,” nothing changes anyway. 

On Florida’s fabled “Fun Coast” our entrenched bureaucratic “system” ensures that.

Here, the stagnant status quo is still protected by staggered elections, a deep pocketed and incredibly powerful Donor Class, and the strict obedience the “system” demands from those who serve it; all perpetuated by the legalized quid pro quo corruption of our skewed campaign finance scheme.    

Now that the bizarre théâtre de l’absurde that passes for our local elections is over, it is time for newly elected politicians to put their words into action and finally live up to the lofty promises that flowed so freely during the thrust and parry of the campaign season.  

They won’t. 

Sadly, these elected figureheads are just cogs on a wheel – and given the fact that incumbent District 2 Councilman Matt Reinhart will be returning to the dais following his defeat of Steve Miller – the composition and obstructionism of the Volusia County Council remains exactly the same… 

The only difference is the citizen mandate that Chairman Jeff Brower was handed on Tuesday – a demand by Volusia County residents to take control of the malignant sprawl that is destroying our remaining greenspace, overwhelming our existing infrastructure, and has resulted in recurrent development induced flooding.

But the fact remains, Chairman Brower is still just one vote. He cannot do it alone.

Time will tell if the remainder of the council got the memo and join with Brower to enact a temporary moratorium on growth until solutions can be found.

(Wanna guess how that vote will go?)

Regardless, the real power remains in the executive suites of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building, and they will continue to craft public policy behind the scenes as our future is dictated in spite of those we elect to represent our interests, not because of them.

That’s not unique to Volusia County government.   

Like every year before, in City Hall’s everywhere, senior staff and those political benefactors who invested so much money supporting hand-select candidates are busy taking their newly elected chattel into the maw of the horribly bloated bureaucracy by reminding them which side their bread is buttered on.  

(Mark my words, Ormond Beach Mayor-elect Jason Leslie, you’re about to have more “friends” than you know what to do with…)

Obsequious backslappers and “advice-givers” inside government and out who suddenly laugh at their jokes, feign interest in everything they say, and slowly receive them into the inner sanctum of the Ivory Tower of Power where they will remain welcome, relative to the discussion, and politically protected so long as they go along and have a good relationship with “the way things work” in Volusia County politics. 

And, once again, the cycle of bureaucratic self-protection comes full circle…

Don’t take my word for it.  Join me up here in the cheap seats and watch. 

Politicians who once promised to listen to We, The Little People, will soon view entrenched bureaucrats as the only “experts” on any issue coming before them, droning PowerPoints full of confusing acronyms will provide political insulation, and our “representatives” will become firmly convinced of their own infallibility, while constituent concerns (and solutions) are scoffed at.

Then, slowly but surely, our newly elected egomaniacs will transmogrify into everything they hated when entering politics… 

Most ominous, freshman commissioners and councilmembers learn that anyone who breaks from the carefully choreographed script becomes the victim of organized political shunning – the physical, parliamentary, and emotional rejection of a duly elected member of the Volusia County Council as a means of modifying behavior, limiting influence, and forcing allegiance to the status quo. 

Ask Chairman Jeff Brower how that works…

For good reason, we no longer expect much from our elected representatives – that sense of having someone on “our side” in the halls of power has been beaten out of us by the machinations of bait-and-switch campaign tactics – where politicians say one thing at election time, then do another once in office, painting rosy pictures that don’t comport with our experience, asking us to doubt what we see with our own eyes.

The result is a stodgy and homogenized conventionality, a rigid closed system protected and perpetuated by those elites with a chip in the game who use government for its power while perverting its purpose.

If we are in fact a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then those we elect should elevate that lofty goal in everything they do.  In my view, that begins by returning a more egalitarian and transparent system to Volusia County.

Each election, I am astounded by just how tone-deaf and selfish our local ‘movers-and-shakers’ can be. 

Call it an obtuse insensitivity to what the average Volusia County resident is feeling, or just a cruel indifference to the suffering of others, the sole focus being that the public teat remains patent and accessible for all the right last names…    

Regardless, there is a real disconnect between the social, civic, and economic elite on the “inside,” and those trying to eke out a living in this artificial economy, where incentives and infusions of public funds go to some well-connected businesses, while others are allowed to wither and die.

Now, add to that list waterlogged homeowners who have once again gutted their worldly possession after the latest flood and you see just how out-of-touch some “Very Important People” in our community truly are.  

Like I said, that “disconnect” was never more evident than in the waning days of the campaign season when flood victims gathered with Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower in Daytona Beach to demand a temporary moratorium on development until a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy can be developed.

Unbelievably, At-Large Councilman “Jake the Snake” Johansson and District 3 Councilman Danny Robins (both of whom have continuing political aspirations) marginalized the suffering of their constituents for political gain, while stumping for “Car Guy” Randy Dye – doing their collective duty to those who hold the paper on their political souls by kowtowing to the demands of their “Rich and Powerful” benefactors.

In my view, that wasn’t just cruel – it was stupid.      

In the view of many, the Brower/Dye matchup was a referendum of the “growth at all costs” strategy and the resultant detrimental impacts on flooding, density, and infrastructure that has forever altered our way of life.

Many also believe it foretells further political change in 2026…

Let’s hope so.

For now, the Cult of Mediocrity lives on – and it will continue unabated until enough Volusia County voters come to the realization that the truth is being manipulated each election cycle for the sole purpose of protecting and promoting the very lucrative status quo.

Let’s hope Chairman Brower’s important victory sends a clear message across the width and breadth of Volusia County that there is some shit We, The Little People won’t eat – and long-suffering taxpayers will no longer accept the greed-crazed profit motives of a few over the quality of life of exiting residents. 

Quote of the Week

“For example, the Flagler School Board prohibits public speakers from addressing board members or anyone but the chair by name, or–as do all local municipal boards–from directing a comment to anyone but the board chair, or from mentioning staffers by name. In other words, happy talk is ok, critical talk is not, the same way that boards approve of applause during happy occasions but ban it when they don’t want a speaker applauded. That’s content discrimination. It’s rampant at our local board meetings.

The court found those rules unconstitutional, especially since no board applies them when a speaker is lavishing praise on a board member or a staffer. The court ridiculed the prohibition on naming staffers. In Brevard, echoing similar and frequent censoring by current and past chairs in Flagler, the chair stopped one speaker with this Soviet-styled rebuke after the speaker mentioned an employee: “You’re putting their information out there in the public and it’s not yours to share.” Only at such board meetings is public information and names often documented in meeting materials considered “not yours to share.”

“Not only does this policy against personally directed speech not advance the goals that the Board claims it serves,” the court ruled, “it actively obstructs a core purpose of the Board’s meetings—educating the Board and the community about community members’ concerns. If a parent has a grievance about, say, a math teacher’s teaching style, it would be challenging to adequately explain the problem without referring to that math teacher. Or principal. Or coach. And so on. Likewise when a parent wishes to praise a teacher or administrator.

Such communications are the heart of a school board’s business, and the ill-defined and inconsistently enforced policy barring personally directed speech fundamentally impedes it without any coherent justification.”

Meetings may get tense, “But that is the price of admission under the First Amendment.”

–Pierre Tristam, FlaglerLive!, “Speech Codes at Flagler School Board and Palm Coast Council Are Now Illegal, Thanks to Moms for Liberty,” Friday, October 25, 2024

Last month, while most of us were busy cleaning up from Hurricane Milton and sorting through the inherent nastiness of “election season,” a federal appeals court ruled on an important constitutional challenge by the group Moms for Liberty against certain public participation policies of the Brevard County School Board. 

According to reports, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that policies targeting “abusive,” “obscene” and “personally directed” speech violated the First Amendment.

This important ruling has far-reaching implications for dictatorial edicts and subjective “rules of decorum” that elected boards, commissions, and councils often use for political insulation, a draconian means of silencing the fury of angry constituents seeking redress of grievances. 

In my view, our democratic processes work best when vigorous debate allows the truth to emerge – which is why the United States Constitution places such emphasis on protecting our inalienable right to free speech – allowing the competition of ideas to elevate the best solutions, resulting in informed and inclusive public policy. 

For far too long citizens in Volusia County and elsewhere have been told by petty politicians that their perspectives on the issues are wrong – or that we lack the capacity to understand the intricacies of things like impact fees and frivolous spending that has nothing to do with improving essential services and public infrastructure.    

The fact is, we live in a time and place where elected officials sit stone-faced on their gilded perch – gazing down on their subjects, placing stringent limitations on the public’s right to be involved in decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods – hiding behind one-sided “civility ordinances” while obstinately refusing to communicate, explain decisions, or listen to the fervent pleas of those they serve.   

Recently, I watched a Volusia County Council meeting where the acting chair repeatedly interrupted citizens as they respectfully addressed issues of concern to their elected officials, ordering that the speaker only direct comments to the chair, interjecting some ridiculous and bureaucratically contrived rule to dampen the foundational element of our democracy – citizen participation.

Bullshit. 

It seems the only time these monotonous marionettes break the fourth wall is when they are groveling for our vote (or a campaign contribution) during an election cycle – or whenever one of their extremely wealthy political benefactors enter the chamber.

When that happens, the mere presence the exalted insider renders the outcome painfully obvious as their obsequious hirelings preen and posture to the delight of their well-heeled masters…

As a result, citizen apathy reigns.

Knowing the deck is stacked against them, John & Jane Q. Public are no longer willing to take time off from work to attend public meetings, voice an opinion, or participate in their government – especially in an atmosphere where their thin-skinned elected representatives have made it clear that even constructive criticism is out-of-line.

The foundational principle of our representative democracy is that all power is derived from the will of the people. 

Go on – speak your mind, demand answers, hold those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest accountable – and do it fearlessly, boldly, and with civic purpose. 

Silence is complicity.  

Kudos to the 11th U.S. District Court of Appeals for striking a wide-ranging blow for our essential right to free and unfettered speech. 

And Another Thing!

“The first casualty of war is truth.”

–Sen. Hiram Warren Johnson, 1917

Many believe that the death of the American Dream – the end of our national post-war optimism – began with the death of President John F. Kennedy and the still lingering questions of what actually happened that day in Dallas.

Others say our national trust in government began to crack in May 1960, when a U-2 “spy plane” was shot down by the former Soviet Union while conducting an aerial reconnaissance flight. 

Initially, the Eisenhower administration explained in a lengthy release to the American people that a “civilian weather research aircraft” had gone missing after the pilot reported “oxygen difficulties.” 

The well-crafted cover-up lasted about a week – right up to the second Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev paraded the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, into the public eye – along with parts of the U-2’s surveillance equipment taken from the crash…

While the need for secrecy and sensitivity was understandable, many were shocked that for the first time their government was caught in such a baldfaced fib to the American public. 

Regardless, our collective trust in those institutions we once held sacrosanct in this country has been on a downward trajectory for decades.

According to a 2023 opinion poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, just 22% of respondents reported that they “trust the federal government to do what’s right “most of the time” or “just about always.”   By contrast, in 1958, when the National Election Study asked the question, some 73% of American’s affirmed their trust in government… 

Now, six decades on, we live in a time of overwhelming cynicism in those institutions we once placed our trust in – government, the media, what many believe is a weaponized judicial system, the corruption of our democratic processes – made worse by political polarization, a politicized press, the misinformation firehose of social media, the emergence of “artificial intelligence,” etc., etc.  

In my view, this election cycle brought a new low in carefully crafted disinformation campaigns and the use of outright lies in the political process. 

Not exactly a new concept.

For instance, at present, one million Floridian’s legally use marijuana for medicinal purposes, with millions more actively using the substance illicitly, and still more who have experimented with it at some point in their lives. 

Yet, throughout the campaign cycle, we repeatedly saw popular elected sheriffs in uniform, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, doctors, politicians, and other once trusted figures who looked us square in the eye from our television screen and openly lied to us about adult-use marijuana – such as the ridiculous blather of how if the unsuccessful Amendment 3 had passed (it almost did) – Cheech and Chong would be openly smoking dope inside restaurants, stadiums, and theme parks…  

Most Floridian’s understood that the proposed constitutional amendment did nothing to weaken or overturn clean air regulations that already prohibit smoking in public spaces – yet that is exactly what those fearmongers who opposed the measure wanted us to believe.  

It worked.  Although Florida voters overwhelmingly said “Yes” to adult-use recreational marijuana – the measure failed to reach the 60% legislatively imposed threshold required to pass.   

But how will those authority figures who openly told us falsehoods ever command our trust again?

With the proposed amendment commanding over 55.9% of the vote – that’s a statewide total of 5,934,139 votes – was defeating legalized weed worth their sacred personal integrity?

Now, many are questioning whose bottom line these powerful politicians are supporting – controlled, regulated, and taxed marijuana producers – or the Mexican drug cartels? 

More important, why?

So, for now, the State of Florida and our myopic law enforcement apparatus will continue to do the same thing over-and-over while expecting a different result? 

What do you think – are we “winning the war” on illicit marijuana in your community?

Look, I am a realist – a pragmatic seeker of that which is real and possible – and I tend to dismiss those who live in some chimerical fantasyland created by those who stand to profit and parroted by elected officials who have been bought and paid for by those same special interests. 

For me, authenticity has always been infinitely more fascinating (and elusive) than political smoke and mirrors.  Perhaps because the truth is such a rare and precious commodity in modern life, I tend to critically question everything…   

My life experience, which includes graduating magna cum laude from the prestigious Institut des Coups Durs, has taught me that things are never quite as good – or bad – as we think they are.

But this inquisitive personality trait has made me hyper-suspicious of politicians, magicians, and snake oil salesmen (sorry for the redundancy) who spin the truth and use deceptive persuasion, half-truths, and exaggerated sleight-of-hand to create an alternate reality that, over time, we have come to accept as fact.

Now that the hype and horseshit of the election season is over, please don’t let your guard down.  

I encourage everyone who pays taxes and lives on this increasingly claustrophobic salty piece of land we share to remain vigilant, demand that our elected officials work collegially and cooperatively in our best interests, drop the obstructionism, political bullying, and one-upmanship to find answers to the disastrous effects of insatiable greed on our collective quality of life.

Demand they stop the political gaslighting and speak the truth.

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, y’all!

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

Waterlogged Residents of Edgewater vs. City Engineer Randy Coslow

Safety experts who study mishaps speak of the “accident chain” – the series of contributing factors that end in an adverse outcome.  The thought being, if at any point leading up to the disaster a link was broken by sound decisions and intervention, catastrophe could have been averted.

By any metric, the recurring disaster resulting from overwhelmed infrastructure and development-induced flooding is a tragedy of epic proportions.   

Throughout Volusia County, residents and business owners are now routinely faced with the destructive effects of floodwater as gravity inexorably pulls it from elevated and impervious new developments into lower lying existing neighborhoods. 

Few places have been harder hit that the waterlogged citizens of Edgewater… 

You don’t need to be an expert on disaster theory to understand that there are elected and appointed officials – people who accept public funds to serve in the public interest – who have intentionally weakened or ignored environmental safeguards, concurrency requirements, density regulations, and best practices for stormwater retention and growth management so influential developers could increase profits by slashing, burning, filling, and elevating wetlands, pine scrub, and aquifer recharge areas.

The consequences of ‘fill and build’ construction which changes the topography of the land were undoubtedly known to civil engineers and “growth management” experts.  For years, the United States Geological Survey and environmentalists have warned that as development and impervious surfaces increase severe flooding events occur with greater frequency.

This isn’t rocket surgery… 

In my view, that makes what has been permitted by certain local government officials’ willful negligence.

As evidence of that, for the past twenty years, entrenched bureaucrats like Volusia’s Growth and Resource Management Director Clay Ervin, have paid cheap lip service to “smart growth” concepts and sustainability practices by hosting timewasting dog-and-pony shows complete with droning PowerPoints, useless “summits” and politically insulating “steering committees.”

Yet nothing of substance ever happens in terms of smart growth practices, sustainability, environmental protection, or resilience. 

That’s called strategic procrastination, and it has successfully put time and distance between regulations to control malignant sprawl and the aggressive profit motives of influential real estate developers’ intent on filling every square foot of available space with more zero lot line cracker boxes “…starting in the $300’s.”

In my view, Mr. Ervin and others like him did exactly as they were told by their superiors, establishing a culture favorable for rubber stamping development.  Now, existing residents of Volusia County and beyond are paying the horrible price for the bureaucracy’s ability to run interference while looking the other way. 

But one thing is certain – you can bet your bottom dollar that both Ervin and County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald – will receive another hefty pay increase this year.

Just like clockwork…

In the City of Edgewater, sodden homeowners are beginning to look beyond cause and effect. 

Now, they want those responsible for the piss poor decisions, laxity, and faulty engineering that has repeatedly destroyed their properties held to account. 

Last week, reporter Brenno Carillo writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal explained how some Edgewater residents feel set upon by the very official who should be mitigating active and future flooding risk:

“The city of Edgewater is considering a third-party investigation into City Engineer Randy Coslow after some residents accused him of intentionally allowing their homes to flood from Hurricane Milton.

Residents voiced their concerns during Monday’s City Council meeting — the first after the storm.

Kimberly Penny, a resident of Kumquat Drive in the Gaslight Square subdivision, relayed her experience with flooding in her home, which has happened twice in the past few years.

“Each time, the time, the emotional, physical and financial toll is overwhelming,” Penny said. “Not just for me but for so many of us living here.”

In September, just minutes into a special meeting, the Edgewater City Council summarily fired former City Manager Glenn Irby to the applause of soggy residents demanding answers to continuing flooding in Florida Shores and elsewhere. 

Perhaps Mr. Coslow should have taken out his slide rule and gauged the handwriting on the wall? 

The allegations brought by members of the community against Mr. Coslow are alarming…

According to the News-Journal, “Penny said “there is growing suspicion that Randy Coslow … may be retaliating against citizens who have voiced concerns and criticisms.”

She said Coslow was responsible for closing the grate to her home with silt fencing ahead of the storm, “and caused my home to hold water and flood yet again.”

Whoa.

Another resident suggested the lack of citizen confidence in Coslow is due to the “…waste of taxpayer money, lack of services, and attitudes and disrespect to the citizens by a certain city employee.”

To their credit, Edgewater’s man-child Mayor Deizel Depew and several Council members have agreed to explore a third-party investigation into allegations that Coslow targeted vocal residents. 

For now, Interim City Manager Jeff Thurman has said he would “pursue” the idea.

You bet your ass he will…or meet the same fate as Irby.    

Now is the time for transparency in Edgewater and elsewhere as taxpayers begin to look beyond their clueless elected officials and demand that those who hold the titles, call themselves “experts,” and demand exorbitant salaries and benefits are held to account. 

In my view, residents are right to demand answers for the effects of habitually deferring repair and replacement funding, the lack of utilities concurrency, our horribly failed “hurt here/help there” wetland mitigation bank strategy, impotent impact fees, and the relentless rubber stamping of development based on “staff recommendations” that is now destroying their property values – and their quality of life…

Can Brown & Brown Save Downtrodden Downtown Daytona?

I’ve preached this vocabulary lesson for years, but any denizen of Florida’s “Fun Coast” is familiar with the word dichotomy.   

Because it represents our collective reality.

The word defines a “stark division or contrast between two things that are opposed or entirely different,” the partition of a whole into sets or subclasses, something completely dissimilar.

When you point out a dichotomy, you draw an unmistakable distinction between two things:

Yin/yang, love/hate, night/day, micro/macro, public/private, rich/poor, objective/subjective, east/west Volusia, Old Daytona/New Daytona.

A duality.  Polar opposites.

While reading an excellent piece by The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s business editor Clayton Park entitled, “Brown & Brown buys a huge chunk of downtown Daytona; Here’s what they bought and why,” I was reminded of the glaring differences that separate old/new Daytona Beach – the optimism and investment on LPGA’s “Boomtown Boulevard” – and what many believe is the decades of strategic blight and intentional neglect that has placed Downtrodden Downtown Daytona in the bargain basement bin in terms of commercial real estate prices…

According to the report, last week, Brown & Brown “…announced its $10 million purchase of the seven contiguous commercial properties known as “Burgoyne Village” that takes almost the entire block bordered by Bay Street on the north, North Beach Street on the east and Palmetto Avenue on the west.”

Considering that the e-commerce behemoth Amazon recently paid “nearly $393.9 million to acquire its yet-to-open five-story 2.8 million-square-foot robotics fulfillment center at 2519 Bellevue Ave. in Daytona Beach” – a warehouse that sits on what was once a vacant cow pasture – and ranked 10^th on the News-Journal’s “Top Ten Biggest Real Estate Deals of 2024” (just behind the August sale of a “small” DeLand office/warehouse building) – I’d say J. Hyatt and the Boys got a hell of a deal… 

Real estate opportunities like that never come my way – but regardless of the who, what, when, where, why, and how Brown & Brown’s subsidiary “Beach Street New Horizons LLC” acquired damn near an entire city block of commercial properties – the heart of the Halifax area’s traditional downtown – for $10 million, the purchase represents a chance for substantive change to the blight and ‘down at the heels’ feel that has hampered revitalization for generations.

In my view, the “renaissance” we were all promised when the glass-and-steel monstrosity that is the Brown & Brown headquarters – and the now complete “Brown Esplanade” – hasn’t materialized as quickly as the hype would have had us believe. 

That’s okay.  We’re used to that.

Let’s hope Brown & Brown continues to use its significant resources to acquire and redevelop large swaths of Downtown Daytona to expedite the much-needed revival of this historic district.

Piecemeal projects aren’t working.    

Look, I admit – if Brown & Brown put up the cash to purchase the block, they can do whatever they please, but I think most will agree, Downtown Daytona is one of those places near and dear to the heart of any resident of a certain age who grew-up shopping there…

That said, my hope is that J. Hyatt will be open to a community charrette – a process which will allow residents, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders a say in “what will be” as the area begins its rebirth.

As I travel around, I’ve noticed that those places where I want to return all had sense-of-place initiatives built into the regeneration of the community – an exclusive civic identity – intentional placemaking that took advantage of local assets and potential. 

That begins with comprehensive planning – where private investors collaborate with visionary professional design and planning firms (getting those stuck-in-the-mud government obstructionists out of the mix) – to develop unique mixed-use infill projects which incorporate the areas historic attributes and encourage a more inviting and walkable city center that improves urban vitality. 

Ultimately, input from all stakeholders helps form a collective strategic vision – an aggregate conception – leading to designs that draw people back to visiting and living downtown, bolstered by complementary creative and entertainment districts that repurpose existing façades to house galleries, eateries, and eclectic businesses with artistic leanings while supporting the interrelationship of existing tenets with a proven commitment to the areas prosperity.    

In my view, the comparative experience between the economic progress and civic revitalization of carefully restored places like Winter Park, Thomasville, Georgia, Charleston, or Downtown DeLand – and the chronic stagnation that permeates much of the Halifax area – remains palpable to residents and visitors alike.    

Frankly, we should be able to dream bigger than the boring, predictable, same ol,’ same ol’ cookie cutter crap that now blankets most of LPGA Boulevard over in “New Daytona” – a placeless hodge-podge that traded the all-important sense of community for sticks-and-glue apartments and more ugly strip centers…  

Time will tell.

It the short-term, we can look forward to more than 600 “market rate” apartments downtown (with a smattering of “workforce housing” units thrown in to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy about it.) 

Yaaaawn…  Excuse me, sorry.

Unfortunately, our ‘powers that be’ have proven repeatedly they don’t give two-shits what the unwashed hoi polloi have to say – especially when it comes to crafting our collective future.

Let’s hope this unique opportunity is different. 

Pssst, Florida Legislators…Growth Didn’t Pay for Itself

The incestuous relationship between many Florida politicians and the deep-pocketed real estate development industry that fuels their campaigns has now painted their constituents into a sopping wet corner.

Last year, an investigation by USA Today determined that some 42% of Florida lawmakers have occupations or sources of income directly tied to the real estate industry – not to mention the millions in campaign contributions received by hand-select candidates at all levels of government from developers, investors, and realtors.  

Thanks to the political influence that massive contributions naturally buy, greed-crazed developers have been granted carte blanche to build across the width and breadth of the state, resulting in rampant flooding of existing homes, ecological destruction, gross overcrowding, and the resultant impacts on local transportation infrastructure, public utilities, and essential services.   

Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of this pay to play scheme has been repeat legislation that whittles away at the concept of “home rule” – limiting local government’s ability to control growth and development in their community.

Utilizing what some watchdogs call “legalized bribery,” developers have effectively suppressed impact fees, gutted local growth management regulations, attempted to shield themselves from the consequences of construction defects, skewed the concept of “property rights” (while ignoring yours and mine), disregarded concurrency requirements, and permitted environmentally destructive slash/burn/fill land clearing, all to facilitate more, more, more development without any consideration of the long-term effects.  

Now that the fallacy that “growth pays for itself” has been exposed as a gross and dangerous fraud – it is time for complicit Florida legislators to accept responsibility and do something about it.

In the view of many, it is time for the state of Florida to assist struggling municipalities with direct funding for infrastructure upgrades – to include stormwater management and public utilities – essential services that have been overwhelmed by the malignant sprawl facilitated by unfunded and burdensome legislative mandates that always benefit the profit motives of gluttonous developers.  

I’m not talking about some trickledown program administered by Volusia County who will suck the pool dry with “administrative costs” and byzantine foot-dragging processes as it uses the funds to expand the bloated bureaucracy while the cities clamor for the dregs…  

In my view, the actions of state legislators to line the pockets of their industry and political benefactors has left many Floridians feeling helpless and disoriented while local elected officials are left handcuffed by state decrees without a means of controlling the destiny of their communities. 

Now that we know the true and devastating cost of growth, it is time for those who helped get us into the mess to help get us out. 

Quote of the Week

“When the News-Journal met with Ormond Beach mayoral candidate Susan Persis, it was over a Starbucks beverage. When the paper met with her opponent Jason Leslie, he had wolfed down some lunchtime Taco Bell while manning his early voting tent.

The race is a study in contrasts, with Persis as the consummate insider and member of the local political elite, and Leslie, an outsider from New Jersey who says his perspective puts him in a better spot to see the city’s problems.

Inside versus outside

Persis, 69, is a retired school principal who served on the Ormond Beach City Commission since 2018. She has lived in Ormond Beach for the last 35 years and the Volusia County area for most of her life, having graduated from Seabreeze High School. Her husband Carl, a Volusia County School Board member, was mayor of Ormond Beach from 1999 to 2003.

“I’m a local. I was born and raised here, so I know that community. I know the culture. I know the climate of Ormond Beach and even the surrounding Daytona Beach area,” Persis said. “This guy has been here three years. He’s from New Jersey and he doesn’t understand how we work in Ormond Beach.” 

–Ormond Beach Mayoral Candidate Susan Persis, as quoted by reporter Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Ormond Beach City Commissioner Susan Persis faces newcomer Jason Leslie in mayor’s race,” Halloween, 2024

Inside versus outside…. 

Once again, reporter Mark Harper hits the nail on the head – calling local elections in this foul season what they are – an age-old battle between those civic, financial, and social elite on the “inside,” and the rest of us rubes who are forced to stand outside the closed political portcullis straining to see into the inner-sanctum where the real public policy decisions are made.

A “study in contrasts,” indeed.

In Ms. Persis’ world (which looks nothing like yours or mine) she deserves to be elevated to the mayor’s seat not on merit, but by osmosis.

Because that’s the way things “work” around here.  When you kiss the right asses, rub elbows with the influential donor class long enough, go along, get along, and prove your worth to those powerful few who control everything but the ebb and flow of the Atlantic tide here on the “Fun Coast” – you are naturally rewarded with a seat at the table.

I mean, we can’t have some Jersey transplant coming in here and upsetting the balance of power with a new vision, ideas, and insights, now, can we? 

That just won’t do…

In the view of many learned political observers much smarter than me, it is inevitable that those exalted members of Volusia County’s “local political elite” will ultimately be hoist on their own petard – ousted by newcomers who have settled in massive subdivisions like Margaritaville, Mosaic, and others that current elected officials rubber stamped – and now form substantial voting blocs who will ultimately want their own representation.

And they don’t give a Tinker’s damn about some perennial politicians antiquated political pedigree.

Perhaps Ms. Persis should understand that this is what happens when the Frankenstein’s Monster of uncontrolled sprawl inevitably turns on those who foolishly created it… 

And Another Thing!

Veteran watchers of the Wild and Woolly World of politics and governance here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” know we get our most unobstructed view of those weird relationships and murky behind the curtain machinations during times of transition – never more obvious than in the waning days of hotly contested races…   

Earlier this week, social media was abuzz with the news that within days of his primary loss to incumbent Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower – “Car Guy” Randy Dye made a well-timed $5,000 personal donation to the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia – who, in September (and some believe in return) took a controversial vote to support Dye by excluding Brower from the “official” Republican voter guide.

Yeah.  I know.

From the “Politics makes strange bedfellows” file, I found it interesting that billionaire local businessman J. Hyatt Brown – who is listed by multiple sources as a Democrat – has donated $5,000 to Dye’s campaign both personally and through entities he controls – and another $10,000 to the RECV… 

Guess it never hurts to cover all bases, eh?

In a move The Daytona Beach News-Journal later called “potentially difference-making,” the tyrannical RECV Chairman Paul Deering invoked something called “Rule 8” – which allows a County Executive Committee to “endorse, certify, screen, or recommend a Republican candidate in a contested Republican primary, or a registered Republican in a nonpartisan election (including judicial races where it is legally permissible)” – essentially shunning those Republicans who fail to receive the anointment of cliquish party leaders. 

Just like that, the fix was in.

Apparently in the Kingdom of Paul Deering, all Republicans are equal – but those willing to pay to play are more equal than others…

Not a good look for “Car Guy” Randy Dye this close to the nut-cutting hour. 

Many inside the Republican Executive Committee and out have openly accused Deering of using the Rule 8 endorsement to ensure Dye – the darling of Volusia’s elite Donor Class – received preferential positioning on the voter guide, while excluding and marginalizing fellow Republican Jeff Brower, who handily won the primary with 42% of the vote to Dye’s 28%.  

I’ve seen some shit in my day, but the brazenness of this screw-job is unprecedented…

According to the News-Journal report, “Jeff won the majority of the … primary votes,” Tim Ryan, a precinct committeeman and former REC treasurer, wrote in a text. “The division and anger is unbelievable.”

On Wednesday, a windy op/ed appeared in the News-Journal describing how growth and development are inevitable, “…and NIMBY is just not the real world,” before gushing about all that Randy Dye “offers.” 

The blatant campaign piece failed to mention that it was penned by Tom Coriale – who is listed as the Vice Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia… 

Now, there is growing back-alley whispering of an old-fashioned coup d’état – which means Deering and Company’s days at the helm of the powerful RECV may be numbered.

It’s about time. 

Let’s face it, even partisan hard-liners oppose this internecine throat cutting of an identified primary winner in the leadup to a general election, knowing well the same fate awaits them (or their candidate) should they fall victim to Deering’s legendary vindictiveness… 

The fact is politics in 2024 is a blood sport.

Why?

Because elections have profound consequences – especially for those who have paid handsomely for their lucrative spot in the political pecking order… 

For instance, on Tuesday, Chairman Brower held a press conference at the City Island courthouse in Daytona Beach to announce that he plans to call for a temporary countywide moratorium on further development until a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy can be developed.

“I’m asking for us all to come together, get on the same side of the desk and do the morally responsible thing and answer the people’s demands for action.  “It’s time to put action behind words. It’s time to stop the obstructionism that prevents anything from moving forward.”

An appeal for unity.  A call for action over hot air – an impassioned plea to move forward with lasting solutions to a universal threat.

That’s when the “Old Guard’s” fangs came out…    

During the presser, high-profile Dye supporters – to include Daytona Beach City Commissioner Stacy Cantu, Volusia County District 3 Councilman Danny Robins, and At-Large Representative Jake Johannson – went on the attack. 

Look, by any metric Danny Robins personifies political kabuki in its worst form. 

His hyper-dramatic, long-winded, time-wasting, and nonsensical stream of consciousness oratories from the dais are legendary – and “Jake the Snake” Johannson has proven himself a shameless animatron wholly controlled by special interests from day one…

Then, in keeping with the choreographed plan of attack, Mayor Derrick Henry took to social media, to excoriate Brower, calling his announcement a “campaign stunt.”

Really?

Coming from someone who’s performed more political stunts than Dar Robinson, that’s rich… 

Even Nancy Keefer, president and CEO of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce, was convinced to wade into dangerous political territory when she publicly put the boots to Chairman Brower in the News-Journal, “If you’re stopping things completely, you’re … using an elephant to kill a flea,” she said.

With piles of moldy carpet and flood-damaged furniture still piled on the streets of Volusia County, something tells me that’s not going to age well for Keefer and the Daytona Regional Chamber…

Of course, Mr. Dye followed up with a lame stump speech listing all the reasons (read: contrived talking points) why even a short-term moratorium isn’t possible.

In other words, the “M” word went through powerful pro-growth and development circles like an ice water enema – and their handmaidens did exactly what they were told by their political benefactors. 

In my view, these sitting elected officials who came down on the wrong side of the single most galvanizing issue of our time should realize that once a leaky ship sets sail – it’s almost impossible to get off before it sinks…    

In 2020, when Brower soundly defeated an entrenched and well-funded “establishment” (a media moniker, not mine) candidate with a citizen mandate of substantive change – those bought-and-paid-for political marionettes on the dais of power turned their sights on marginalizing his campaign promises, openly shitting on the will of Volusia County voters – systematically blocking Brower’s initiatives at every turn, all while painting him as an “ineffectual” loser.

What’s changed?

Based on Mr. Brower’s impressive primary win, it appears an increasing number of Volusia County voters suffering the ruinous effects of unchecked growth on their quality of life haven’t forgotten this stalling and political sabotage…   

As election day grows near, Volusia’s entrenched “Old Guard” – and those stalwarts of the status quo who do their bidding are rightfully nervous – chilled by the thought that We, The Little People have finally decided that protecting our threatened environment and already overburdened infrastructure outweigh the insatiable wants and whims of influential developers with a chip in the game.

Vote your conscience.

Elections have consequences.   

That’s all for me.  If you haven’t taken advantage of early voting, please go to the polls on Tuesday! 

And take a friend with you…

This one’s important.

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…

Biketoberfest 2024    

A fact of life on Florida’s fabled “Fun Coast,” is that many of our neighbors are dependent on the feast or famine nature of the Halifax Area’s artificial economy – still very much reliant on “Special Events” for their livelihoods – while much of our core tourist area remains mired in blight, dilapidation, and botched opportunities.  

A place where some red-faced store owners still apologize to tourists for the condition of the place… 

Earlier this year in an excellent article by investigative journalist Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, entitled “‘We’ve gone to the bottom’: Does Daytona’s party-central image scare off investors?” we learned the tragic reality facing many Beachside small businesses: 

“A good portion of Main Street businesses only come alive for about a week during Biketoberfest in October and two weeks during Bike Week in March. Those businesses can afford to go dark for the rest of the year because they make huge amounts of money during the two biker parties.

Many nearby empty lots used for biker event vendors and parking also sit empty for most of the year and then burst to life during Bike Week and Biketoberfest.

“Main Street has not made any of the leaps we would have hoped,” said Mayor Derrick Henry. “Part of the problem is people make money off the way it is now. We’re not opposed to Bike Week, but I want to see Main Street thrive.”

When?

Earlier this year, the Main Street Merchant’s Association made an impassioned plea to those mute Gargoyles on the Volusia County Council asking that beach driving from International Speedway Boulevard to Auditorium Boulevard be reopened as a means of supporting beleaguered shops, restaurants, and bars in the core tourist district.   

Per usual, the idea of trying something new and innovative was ignored – which brings us back to our interminable reliance on “Special Events.”  Unfortunately, for the financial security of many, these disruptive boom-bust bacchanalias must roll regardless of the condition of our community, infrastructure, or residents…   

As a shiftless retiree, most days, by the time you have finished a grilled cheese and bowl of tomato soup for lunch, I’m already three cocktails deep. 

My one rule is that I never drink and drive, which makes me solely reliant on my long-suffering wife and close friends to haul my inebriated arse from point A to B safely.   

Late last week, I was riding with a friend enroute from Barker’s View HQ to my favorite watering hole – the omnipresent roar of Biketoberfest motorcycles radiating from North Beach Street – when I heard the faint sounds of AC/DC wafting over the drone.

Continuing through my north Ormond neighborhood, the strains of Angus Young’s screaming guitar got louder as we navigated receding water, the massive debris piles from Hurricane Milton still moldering in and out of the roadway – logs, leaves, fencing slats, and rotting vegetative waste stacked high (dangerous eyesores we are now told might not be fully collected before the first of the year?) – with one large mound of brown palm fronds and the remnants of a toppled Oak obscuring motorists’ view of the opposing lane. 

Then…

“IT’S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP IF YOU WANNA ROCK-N-ROLL!”

Out of nowhere, a speeding Harly-Davidson – the bike’s onboard stereo blasting at concert pitch – weaved around the obstructing debris pile, pulling directly into our traffic lane, eyeball-to-bloodshot eyeball, closing so fast I could see the abject horror on the face of the bearded and leather-clad rider.

Whoa!  

Instantaneously, my friend braked hard and deftly swerved right – the now leaning motorcycle threading the needle, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision by a fraction on the left – a hard, fast, and frightening lesson on the perils of inviting tens-of-thousands of motorcyclists to party hardy in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster… 

I get it.  We do what we must to survive. 

In my view, stability and long-term prosperity begins by getting government (at all levels) out of the way and allowing those actually in the arena – entrepreneurial investors who have put their blood, sweat, tears, and money into building a business – to use their experience and expertise to blaze a path forward and turn things around, rather than continue to pour untold millions in public funds into attracting the next panacea project…

Yeah.  I know.

Here’s hoping everyone who feeds their family on the proceeds of Biketoberfest got everything they needed, and that our ‘powers that be’ finally realize that the Daytona Beach Resort Area needs a year-round draw, an inviting atmosphere, and a break from the stagnant status quo if we hope to maintain our important hospitality industry here on the “World’s Most Famous Beach.”     

Aura-Aero

Strike up the Volusia County All-Star Goodtime Band!

Happy Days are Here Again!  Again! 

Last week, everyone who is anyone in Volusia County’s public and private elite were falling all over themselves with the announcement that French hybrid-electric aircraft manufacturer Aura-Aero announced its intention to build a 500,000-square-foot manufacturing and assembly plant at the Daytona Beach International Airport.

Once operational, the manufacturing facility will create more than 1,000 of those “high-paying jobs” we are always promised whenever the next big thing comes to town…   

In an informative article by the News-Journal’s Clayton Park, we learned that Daytona Beach took the prize over Flagler County after the obligatory “economic incentive” cake walk.

“Volusia County offered $500,000 in performance-based incentives the company would receive only if it makes good on its pledge to create 1,000 jobs paying an average of $72,000 a year. Daytona Beach agreed to provide $100,000 in matching funds of that “Grow Volusia” incentive package.

The city sweetened the county’s bid further by offering a break on property taxes over six years worth a total of $3.58 million.

Flagler County offered an even more lucrative incentive package that would have paid Aura Aero $1 million annually for five years in the form of reimbursements on ad valorem taxes collected from the company as well as $650,000 or more a year based on the value of the plant’s equipment.”

And, friends and neighbors, that’s how you and I became investors in the nascent electric aircraft business… 

Now, I hate to be the proverbial turd in the punchbowl, so I’m going to assume our economic development sagamores at Team Volusia and that camara stellata over at the CEO Business Alliance (or any of the half-dozen other redundant “economic opportunity” agencies) did due diligence on our behalf before using our money to add more sugar to Aura-Aero’s cloyingly sweet “incentives” package? 

I’m asking.

Because, to the best of my knowledge, Aura-Aero’s initial prototypes – single-engine aircraft known as the INTEGRAL models – have yet to receive final FAA or EASA flightworthiness certification. 

Tragically, two test pilots lost their lives in the crash of an INTEGRAL R prototype in April 2022, a mishap European safety investigators later disturbingly attributed to “technical, organizational, and human causes…” 

Aura-Aero responded in a statement following the release of the accident report which read, in part:   

“The study of the events that led to the loss of the aircraft and crew results in several recommendations, some of which concern us.  Our own investigations had also led to the same conclusions, already taken into account for the development and production of the INTEGRAL R, INTEGRAL S, and INTEGRAL E aircraft.”

According to reports, flight testing of the INTEGRAL R variant resumed last year, 19 months after the fatal crash, and the company reports FAA certification is in the final stages.  

Although orders for a reported 570 units have already been placed for the company’s larger ERA (Electric Regional Aircraft) in both 19-seat passenger and cargo configurations – I’m not sure a prototype has yet been constructed. 

According to a report earlier this month at the industry site Aerotime, Aura-Aero “…is planning to fly a prototype of the ERA airliner by 2026.”  In my view, that sounds like an incredibly aggressive timeline… 

Look, I’m certainly not an aeronautical engineer, but the dates don’t add up to this uneducated rube, and one would think the “before 2030” estimated delivery date would put serious time constraints on testing and certification of the ERA models before production could begin on orders promised.     

But what do I know, eh? 

I’m sure Volusia County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald and our “economic guru’s” who play fast and loose with our tax dollars have confirmed all of this well in advance of committing us to another multi-million-dollar corporate support package, right?

Sure they did…  

Former Volusia County Councilwoman Joie Alexander 1940-2024

Earlier this month, Joie Alexander, a universally respected paragon of Volusia County governance, volunteerism, and selfless service passed away at her home in Spruce Creek.  She was 84.    

Following a quarter-century of service with Volusia County Schools – including eight years as principal of Samsula Elementary School – Ms. Alexander sought public office, running against the late great Big John in what the Orlando Sentinel described in 2002 as “a two-fisted political brawl” for the ages. 

At the time, Ms. Alexander labeled Big John an “obstructionist,” while he accused Alexander of having been “recruited” by east Volusia developers seeking to oust him from office when he opposed spending millions in tax dollars on oceanfront development in Daytona Beach.

Figurative blows flew back and forth with each accusing the other of accepting campaign contributions from “big-money” interests… 

Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

When the heated contest was over, Ms. Alexander garnered 64 percent of the vote to Big’s 36 percent.  

Ultimately Ms. Alexander served admirably for eight years as the at-large member of the Volusia County Council – seven as vice chair – and two years as the District 3 councilmember, including service as a member of the Florida Association of Counties Board of Directors.

As could happen in times past, Big John and Ms. Alexander later became friends, and their collective efforts to ensure a brighter future for Volusia County remained a constant throughout their remarkable lives.

A moving obituary in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week recounted Ms. Alexander’s significant leadership and contributions:

“Joie spent her retirement years giving back to the community. Joie’s extensive volunteer service included serving on the board of directors or committees of the following: Crime Stoppers of NE Florida, Florida’s Coast to Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties (S.H.I.E.L.D. Award recipient in 2022), Daytona State College Women’s Center (Advisory Board), the United Way Women’s Initiative, the Bethune-Cookman University Mary McLeod-Bethune Status committee and Keep Daytona Beach Beautiful. She was a member of several civic and service-oriented groups such as the Rotary Club of Daytona Beach, the NAACP West Volusia Chapter, the Volusia County Women’s Network, the Civic League of the Halifax Area and the Halifax Health Associates. Many other local organizations also benefited greatly from her involvement.

Of Joie’s service over her decades to Volusia County, she once said, “Volunteering is a greater gift for the giver than the receiver. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to be an active part in improving lives.”

Words to live by from a dedicated servant-leader, gone too soon, whose wisdom and insight is needed now, more than ever.    

Thank you, Ms. Alexander.  We’re glad you passed our way…

Quote of the Week

“The Hand Avenue extension to Avalon Park won’t be used by Ormond Beach residents. Instead, the costly road and bridges will allow Daytona Beach Avalon Park residents to travel to and through Ormond Beach and return home. During the current two-year term, the Ormond Beach City Commission, with three new members, has not heard reports on the proposed Hand Avenue extension or updates on the Avalon Park water and sewer service impasse with Daytona Beach.

The 3,000 acres west of I-95 have a troubled history, and now the Avalon Park mega development will construct 7,878 homes, on lots engineered with truckloads of legal fill and excavations of massive retention ponds.

Funding a $100 million Hand Avenue east-west access for the Avalon Park Daytona homes is now a Volusia County obligation. The county agreements were approved with no estimated project cost, no defined funding from four levels of government, no citizen mandate, and no public input from the Ormond Beach City Commission. Meanwhile, long-neglected streets in unincorporated areas of the county remain in desperate need of repaving.

The $100 million Hand Avenue extension and bridges will waste taxpayer dollars to accommodate growth that will never pay for itself.”

–Former Ormond Beach City Commissioner Jeff Boyle, as excerpted from his op/ed in the Ormond Beach Observer, “My View: Hand Avenue extension bridges are not needed,” Monday, October 21, 2024

The rest of Mr. Boyle’s insightful thoughts on the costs, environmental impacts, and ulterior motivations as Volusia County (read: you and me) agree to pick up the estimated $100 million tab for extending Hand Avenue west from Ormond Beach, with a bridge over eight lanes of Interstate 95 and a second new bridge over the Tomoka River to accommodate Avalon Park can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/58mpx3js

In my view, Mr. Boyle’s cogent commentary tells a disturbing story of how (and why) the dominos were stacked – and the pernicious reasons our elected developer shills continue to perpetuate the myth that the Hand Avenue extension will relieve already crippling traffic congestion on Granada Boulevard/State Road 40 – knowing full well the extension that existing residents will pay for opens even more environmentally sensitive lands between I-95 and the Tomoka River for development.    

I found it interesting that on Wednesday, the Observer published a piece on the Frankensteinian animation of the monstrous Ormond Crossings as the “first amendment” for the massive mixed-use development comes before the Ormond Beach Planning Board next week…

According to the report, “The request also seeks to update the overall conceptual master plan for the residential part of Ormond Crossings, which once built out, could be composed of 2,500 homes.”

Insanity.

In my view, Mr. Boyle’s timely essay is a must-read for anyone concerned about the slow and agonizing death of our environment, sense of place, and quality of life in Ormond Beach and beyond…

And Another Thing!

Last week, as you and were navigating Milton debris still piled high on the shoulder of every side street in town – then grimaced and groaned through three cycles of a traffic signal on hyper-congested West Granada Boulevard – our ‘movers and shakers’ gathered at the exclusive Oceanside County Club to listen to Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington tell the chamber of commerce set how wonderful we all have it… 

In his final State of the City address – “Partners For Prosperity” – clearly a subliminal nod to his friends and campaign contributors in the development community, Hizzoner reminded us:

“This theme embodies the essence of what makes our city thrive, our ability to come together, collaborate and support one another in our shared pursuit of a prosperous future…”

Whatever that means.

During the posh luncheon, the Ormond Beach City Commission’s shining example of success was the proposed redesign of the I-95/US-1 interchange (a project just entering the ‘design phase’) which has, for the entirety of Mr. Partington’s tenure, rivaled East International Speedway Boulevard as the most uninviting, unkempt, and physically unattractive gateway to any community on the Eastern Seaboard from Newark to New Smyrna Beach…   

According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer, “Once completed, it will significantly enhance the traffic flow and reduce congestion,” Commissioner Susan Persis said.

Construction of the new interchange is expected to begin in 2027, she said.”

Great.  Something to look forward to as a septuagenarian… 

At the risk of seeming unkind, neither Mr. Partington, nor his heir apparent, Susan Persis, are considered deep thinkers by most political watchers.  

In my experience, these perennial politicians aren’t problem solvers – and have proven time and again that they lack the mental capacity to understand multifaceted civic issues or the analytical ability to form complex solutions. 

But they possess the most coveted (and marketable) of political attributes – malleability – the flexibility to bend to the wants and whims of special interests, to go along and get along.   

Unfortunately, Partington and Persis are not alone when it comes to political pliability in Volusia County.

Now, after twenty-one years on the Ormond Beach City Commission, following his speech, Mayor Partington stepped down to complete what I am certain will be a successful run for the Florida House of Representatives District 28 seat. 

For reasons my pea brain can’t quite understand, “Fun Coast” voters have a weird way of rewarding bought-and-paid for political puppets by elevating them to higher office – then complain about why things never change…     

Bizarre. 

In most communities suffering the disastrous effects of our area’s “shove ten-pounds of shit into a five-pound bag” growth management strategy – elected officials who played the distracted referee routine while the out-of-control development that has slashed/burned greenspace, overburdened inadequate transportation infrastructure, outpaced utilities, and flooded homes and businesses – are publicly humiliated at the ballot box and drummed out of what’s left of their claustrophobic communities.   

Not here.

Earlier this week, already distracted residents sloshed through their front yards, collected their newspaper, and read a piece from The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s executive editor John Dunbar, who used his vast editorial talents to clean up Volusia County Chair candidate “Car Guy” Randy Dye’s massive $457,727.47 war chest by shamelessly name dropping a few of his “Rich & Powerful” donors:

“For example, Dye got a personal donation of $1,000 from J. Hyatt Brown, chairman of local insurance giant Brown & Brown Inc. Brown’s wife Cici also gave $1,000 and companies controlled by Brown gave another $3,000. Yes, this is a very wealthy man.”

Then, we got Editor Dunbar’s interpretation of “The rest of the story…”

“But there’s more to the story. Dye is on the board of trustees of the Museum of Arts & Sciences, which, over the years, has benefited greatly from the Browns’ generosity. The Browns recently announced they were giving upward of $150 million to the museum, a transformative gift, as The News-Journal recently reported.

If you are going to be on the Volusia County Council, this is a good man to know.”

By contrast, Mr. Dunbar described incumbent Chairman Jeff Brower this way:  

“As for Brower, he has been focusing lately on flood issues, especially in Edgewater.

His focus has been on slowing new development so it won’t cause flooding in older neighborhoods. And he opposes the construction of the fuel terminal near Ormond Beach. His critics say his heart is in the right place, but they haven’t seen much progress.

He is, however, but one vote on a governing body that has seven members.”

Maybe I’m hypersensitive to the near-constant skewing of the political playing field by those with a chip in the game, but it sounds like Mr. Dunbar is implying that while Dye gives generously of his time and rubs elbows with influential moguls and millionaires – Brower is frittering aimlessly with “flood issues” – or as most waterlogged residents refer it: 

The single most electrifying issue of our time – one that has galvanized Volusia County taxpayers into a growing grassroots movement to protect their homes, lives, and livelihoods from development-induced inundation under the battle cry, “Throw the bums out!”    

Unfortunately, I fear the takeaway for many of our apathetic neighbors will be:

“Oh good, I knew Randy Dye was just another altruistic do-gooder with powerful and incredibly wealthy friends, always giving of his time and talents to serve his fellow Fun Coasters.  Nothing to see here, folks, we can go back to sleep – never mind the roar of those bulldozers…”   

But what about us, “We, The Little People,” who don’t have rich and influential friends in high places?

Who looks out for us in the cloistered Halls of Power in DeLand?

Because it has become frighteningly clear that struggling residents without the wherewithal to purchase a chip in the game with massive campaign contributions have few friends on the Volusia County Council…

Read Mr. Dunbar’s interesting take here and form your own conclusions: https://tinyurl.com/4xy4yx3e

With early voting underway in Volusia County – please vote your conscience. 

This one’s important.

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, y’all!